Category: Age

I am a 16 year old male. When i turned 13 I dyed my hair about 5 times, and bleached it once. The following year I began to lose my hair. You can see my scalp on the back of my head, not greatly, but very noticablly. The hair on top of my head is very thin now, and u can almost see through to my scalp. My hair has stopped falling out since then but the damage has been done. I have been to several doctors, and dermatologists, they all say it’s hereditary, since my father is bald. My questions are, if the hair loss is hereditary why did I start losing my hair at such a young age? If my parents and I consider hair transplantation am I guaranteed to have a full head of thick(er) hair? If we decide to have the surgery should I start taking Propecia to prevent any future hair loss? I would love nothing more than to have a full head of thick hair again. This has been a very stressful situation, being in my prime teen years, and entering my junior year of high school in September. I would greatly appreciate it if you respond to my message. Thanks for your time!

You are almost certainly too young to have hair transplants. Seeing through the hair to the scalp means that you hair is probably very, very fine. This is a common look, something that my generation called a towhead. I would not be surprised to hear of balding in your family as 50% of men in their lifetime do have some form of balding. Before you start on a treatment plan, please read Miniaturization: Critical to the Master Plan for Hair Loss and develop a Master Plan for your hair.

im 22 and had 500 grafts done in my receding temples about 6 months ago. i experienced severe MPB at 18-19 and hairloss had been stable since then. the hairline was carefully marked by myself before the surgery so i cannot blame the doc, but now i feel it could have been 1/2 further up. the hair are very fine and not very dense, just as i wanted them on temples(not too dense, just enough to cover). in the future can these be moved 1.2 up??

Not really. It is very difficult to move transplanted hair. I tell patients that transplanted hair is always permanent and that is why it should be done right the first time. If removal was to be attempted, it would have to be done with a Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) technique. You can have a brow lift which will give you a higher hairline, moving the transplanted hair upwards, but that is fairly radical surgery for someone of your age.

I am disturbed that some doctor would transplant a 22 year old and that the hairline would be placed low. The fact that there were only 500 grafts also disturbs me, because it indicates that the balding is not severe. Were you on Propecia? If not, then there is clear malpractice here. You need an expert to assess your situation.

A hair transplant is for life. That is why I constantly emphasize the Master Plan in hair restoration. To achieve the maximum cosmetic benefit from hair restoration surgery, a personalized Master Plan should combine the best information available with a realistic assessment of what your future hair loss may be. It is an integral part of the patient-doctor relationship.

Letter from a person in Europe:

I am 23 years old and i am suffering from hairloss male pattern with a receeding hairline. I am contemplating a procredure and I want you to tell if it it is worthwhile. They assert to be the best in the industry. Can i trust them?. Have you heard of them?

Going through such a horrible condition at such a young age, as you can imagine is truly stressful. My personal doctor says nothing can be done and i have seen dertmotologists who say nothing can be done either. So i am taking things to the extreme.

Thanks

I have reviewed your pictures today. You appear to be a Norwood Class 3V pattern. At the age of 23, I would rather that you start taking Propecia (finasteride) before you do anything. If you have a transplant without that drug, you will accelerate your hair loss and if you think you are miserable now, it will be worse if you became much balder immediately after a hair transplant. The issue always is: Where is your balding going and what is the Master Plan for what you will have to manage over the years in front of you? With the genetic balding that you are showing in the photos you sent to me, anybody that would recommend transplants without giving you at least 8 months of finasteride, would be in my opinion incompetent and immoral. There is no doubt that a transplant on you now will leave you more bald, not less so; PLEASE do not start transplants without 8 months of oral finasteride. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to anticipate your pattern of eventual hair loss and then get a competent doctor who will put a plan for your long term (you have years to live and I do not believe you want to live it as a bald man). I have seen too many unhappy men your age who go for a transplant out of desperation and then use up the valuable donor hair without any plan and no way to ever look normal again. Do you get what I am saying?