Am i the youngest?

[Kevtom525]

I'm 19 years old, and have been loosing my hair since i was about 15. I went through high school with the stress that comes with loosing hair.

 

I lost a substantial amount of weight a couple of years ago, and a few of my doctors think that this could be the cause of my early balding.

 

I then started taking medicine to increase the thyroid count in my body which had lowered because of my weight loss. When i did this, i noticed a decrease in hair loss and thickening in some areas.

 

A few years have gone by and i'm still frustrusted with how i look and i feel that i need to do something.

 

I looked into Hair Club's bio matrix and went to the free consultation. After researching, i heard that this isnt the best option.

 

Do any satisfied patients have any recommendations for me?

 

Thank you for your attention

 

kevin

[hairworthy]

Just been on the Hair Club website and the only name I recognize is Didocha, but I can't recall whether he was considered good or not. The pictures there look impressive but of course they always do! Beware and do some more research.

[heavy kevie]

Kevin,

I personally think you're to young to consider a HT.I've had 2 HT'S,first one very bad,about 15 years ago,then one earlier this year to correct the mess.{so,all together,about 13k,and if I had it all over to do,I would just shave my head and grow a gotee.I will admit,I am excited about my new HT,but that WAS Corrective

surgery.I suggest excersize alot,and concentrate

on your health.I was in my young 20's when I started loosing my hair.I weighed over 220 lbs.I decided was was'nt going to be fat and bald and started running.I had to start out at 1 mile a day.I am now a proud veteran of 4 Boston marathons,and weigh 175 at 46.

Wait a couple years and be healthy.

[JohnH]

Kev,

You are pretty young for one. But if you have lost a lot of your hair you may be at the point where some action can be taken. Some people will tell you to start taking propecia or proscar. You will have to take it for the rest of your life or you will lose whatever you gain! You are doing the right thing by researching. Read as much of this forum as you can. Also consider how bald will you get. Do you have any really bald people in your family? If so, this could limit how much a procedure will help. There have been some young people who got procedures. Look for posts by Brando.

[damo]

KEv i personally think you are to young.I started to lose hair at 19 but waited until i was 28 before i got my HT.I would start to take Propecia and use Minoxidil combination until you get abit older because you cant foresee the future and whats going to happen to your hairloss.

 

Damo

[Young Loser]

I may be biased considering I am 19 and have loster hair in the temple areas and have a bald spot in the back, however gith now I am wearing a hair club bio matrix. For now.........anyway back to the point, that being it is silly to say someone is too young. Why are they too young? So they have to spend the next 10 years in agony until they reach the correct age and THEN they can have their procedure, after everyone already knows what has happened to them and their younger days have passed them by? Why do you expect such things? Like you two I am looking into hair transplant, the hair system hair club has is a good TEMPORARY solution as you research the topic and your other options, don't jump into anything too quickly. I feel your pain bros, TRUST me.

[tymman]

Cody - Young - Kevtom,

 

People are saying you're young because we know MPB is progressive. Our point of view is this - you get a HT and your donor area/capability diminshes (you don't have as much to give for future HT). Right now there are two drugs approved by the USFDA for treating MPB. Finasteride (Propecia/Proscar) and Minoxidil. When you do more research on MPB you will find that it is caused by DHT. Finasteride reduces the production of DHT while Minoxidil stimulates hair to grow. I had a 2 inch bald spot on my crown at 22, I feel your PAIN!! If Propecia was around at the time, then I would have started it and never stopped. The Minoxidil usually cases some shedding when you first start using, I didn't know it was natural and stopped it, the resulting permanent loss was intense. I went through the next 4 years trying ever snake oil out there. I even wasted $4000 on this laser light treatment which didn't regorw any new hair. Bottom line is - I am encouraging you to try the medicinal approach first. At the very least this will stabilize your hair loss and minimize the amount of donor hair you will have to use for HT.

 

Think of it this way - if right now you have a 2 inch bald spot and it will take 1000 grafts (NOT HAIRS) to fill it, and you only have 4000 possible grafts for use for the rest of your life, do you really want to waste that thousand right now??? You probably said yes (I would have said yes at 22) - Now here's the heart breaker MPB is PROGRESSIVE. So you get the HT in your 2 inch bald spot and use up 1000 of your 4000 grafts and in 2 years you now have an outer ring around where the original 2 inches was, and guess what it will take another 2000 grafts to cover it. Now add in the fact that your temples are almost completely bald, your hair line is an inch further back, and your mid scalp is getting thinner... What are you gonna do then??? I am not trying to tell you what to do, only trying to paint a real life picture for you, my real life picture! It scared the HELL out of me!

 

I have only heard of the Follicular Unit grafting for the last 4 years, I don't know if was around when my balding started. I would have done it back then but I WOULD HAVE REGRETTED IT!! Technology is advancing rapidly, remember it was 1998/99 when Propecia was approved by the FDA. I hear alot of talk about cell regeneration testing and see someone talking about a newer more proficient way of doing HT's. Please consider the medicinal approach! Give it a year to start working for you. You never know what else is gonna come out in the next year or two and it would be a shame to waste any of your donor area right now. I don't really know what you mean by a hair system, is it a hair peice?? It doesn't sound to exciting to me, sounds like your are doing more long term damage to your scalp.

 

Last thing - do alot of research on this site, READ READ READ!! Go do some consults, get the advise from doctors who do ONLY HT's.

[arfy]

For now.........anyway back to the point, that being it is silly to say someone is too young. Why are they too young?

 

The issue is not purely "age". It's that you want a transplant to return you to the point where you used to be (or are "supposed" to be). A hair transplant can't make you look like you have no hair loss whatsoever.

 

Look at some of the guys in the gallery section here. They look like they lost some hair but kept some hair too. Hair transplants create an "illusion" of coverage, they do not restore a full head of hair. So part of the problem is that you have unrealistic ideas about what a hair transplant can do.

 

It's not purely age related. If you were 19 and totally bald, and you had realistic (low) expectations about getting your hair back, you would be a better candidate than a guy who is just beginning to bald, who wants to go back to "zero" (pre-hair loss condition).

 

Another potential problem is shock loss. Did you know that surgery can actually accelerate your hair loss, for the hairs that are currently "at risk"? The worst case scenario is that you end up with LESS hair after surgery. The first goal for you, should be to stop your hair loss from getting worse, and strengthen the hair you still have.

 

The main thing is DO NOT PANIC. You are vulnerable to getting seriously ripped off or screwed up, when you panic. Be careful, there are sharks in the water who will prey on your insecurity.

 

If I were you I would buzz my hair down all the way, get on Propecia or another serious DHT blocker (and maybe start Minoxidil later if you need something else) and just keep my fingers crossed. Give yourself a year on Propecia as a bare minimum, then a year later re-assess your situation. (Take high quality pics for the best comparison). Most guys can stop their hair loss from getting worse, using Propecia (it doesn't work for everybody, only about 80% of guys slow or stop hairloss, a few lucky ones can reverse it). The good news is that the more recent your hair loss is, the more likely it is you will be a "good responder" to Propecia. Since you guys are young, you have a real shot at success.

 

I have never heard of a guy getting surgery at your age, who didn't think it was a huge (life-wrecking) mistake. Try to learn from other peoples' mistakes.

[Young Loser]

Yeah I have decided against a transplant for sure, at least at this age. Thanks all :-)

[MyNameIsRich]

Cody - Young - Kevtom,

 

People are saying you're young because we know MPB is progressive. Our point of view is this - you get a HT and your donor area/capability diminshes (you don't have as much to give for future HT). Right now there are two drugs approved by the USFDA for treating MPB. Finasteride (Propecia/Proscar) and Minoxidil. When you do more research on MPB you will find that it is caused by DHT. Finasteride reduces the production of DHT while Minoxidil stimulates hair to grow. I had a 2 inch bald spot on my crown at 22, I feel your PAIN!! If Propecia was around at the time, then I would have started it and never stopped. The Minoxidil usually cases some shedding when you first start using, I didn't know it was natural and stopped it, the resulting permanent loss was intense. I went through the next 4 years trying ever snake oil out there. I even wasted $4000 on this laser light treatment which didn't regorw any new hair. Bottom line is - I am encouraging you to try the medicinal approach first. At the very least this will stabilize your hair loss and minimize the amount of donor hair you will have to use for HT.

 

Think of it this way - if right now you have a 2 inch bald spot and it will take 1000 grafts (NOT HAIRS) to fill it, and you only have 4000 possible grafts for use for the rest of your life, do you really want to waste that thousand right now??? You probably said yes (I would have said yes at 22) - Now here's the heart breaker MPB is PROGRESSIVE. So you get the HT in your 2 inch bald spot and use up 1000 of your 4000 grafts and in 2 years you now have an outer ring around where the original 2 inches was, and guess what it will take another 2000 grafts to cover it. Now add in the fact that your temples are almost completely bald, your hair line is an inch further back, and your mid scalp is getting thinner... What are you gonna do then??? I am not trying to tell you what to do, only trying to paint a real life picture for you, my real life picture! It scared the HELL out of me!

 

I have only heard of the Follicular Unit grafting for the last 4 years, I don't know if was around when my balding started. I would have done it back then but I WOULD HAVE REGRETTED IT!! Technology is advancing rapidly, remember it was 1998/99 when Propecia was approved by the FDA. I hear alot of talk about cell regeneration testing and see someone talking about a newer more proficient way of doing HT's. Please consider the medicinal approach! Give it a year to start working for you. You never know what else is gonna come out in the next year or two and it would be a shame to waste any of your donor area right now. I don't really know what you mean by a hair system, is it a hair peice?? It doesn't sound to exciting to me, sounds like your are doing more long term damage to your scalp.

 

Last thing - do alot of research on this site, READ READ READ!! Go do some consults, get the advise from doctors who do ONLY HT's.

 

words of truth

[bonkerstonker]

This thread is 7 years old i wonder what he ended up doing?

[Bill - Seemiller]

At first, when I first started reading this thread, I thought it was current and reminded me of a very old topic I remembered reading years ago. After checking the dates, I see that this is the same thread.

 

I often wonder what posters from years ago decided to do. I guess the original poster of this topic would be about 26 by now. Perhaps if his email is still the same as when he registered, he'll get notifications that his topic was updated and he'll post a reply letting us all know what he decided to do. Either way, I wish him all the best.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill