Question:
i am 23 years old and have sufficient hair loss both in the front and in the crown. it is pretty safe to say that i will completely lose my hair someday and i am not reacting very well to propecia. Would it be wise of me to wait to get an operation or could i proceed with one now? Currently I do not have a bald spot or completely bald areas, but there is a lot of diffused thinning in front and in the crown. Is it possible to get a transplant under the assumption that as the rest of my hair falls out it will still look natural? I have read the horror stories of those guys who had a transplant at and early age and now are on the eleventh and all they want to do is shave their heads, and I really don't want to be that guy. Also, i have done research and see that at a young age it would be not advised to get work done on the crown. Is this the case under all circumstances?? Personally I have very thick donor hair and not a lot of area to cover (I have a very small head). Do doctors even consider this? I would even take less density in the front and a higher hairline in order to restore the crown area.

I am very desperate for a solution to my problem and any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated

Choices:
any advice??

 

LookingForHelp, do a lot of reading from this forum. You have asked a lot of questions that others have asked. Scroll through the topics and you will probably find some good info.

Yes, there are horror stories. Mainly from people who got transplants in the 80's and early 90's. And there are still hack jobs being done today. Find a few good doctors. After much reading on this forum, you will see who the preferred doctors are. Their work can stand alone. This means that it looks so natural that you can lose more of your hair and the transplanted hair will still look good.

With diffuse hair loss, there is a risk of shock loss. You could end up losing a good bit of "weakened" hairs. So for a few months you may look even balder than you do now. Most of the shocked hairs will grow back but one never knows. At your age, I would focus on the front third of your head. This is the most important part. Save the crown work for later on when you have a better idea of how much you are going to lose.

Hey Lookingforhelp!

My fellow baldie hereabove is damn right!
I've been into that "HT investigation" for almost two months and the first piece of advice I was given was "DO YOUR HOMEWORK", i.e. learn, read, discuss, keep informed about hairloss before you do anything.

"Hairmills" are everywhere and young desperate people are what they're looking for. Won't hesitate to ruin your life for bucks.

Don't forget :
1/ The smarter, the happier with your final outcome!

2/ Solutions exist, feel confident in science, take your time!

27-NW2/3

You are 23 and are losing hair in the front and crown. Hair transplantation would be very risky at your age. However, medications could be very effective. Consider Propecia and Rogaine in combination as these work really well together- and the results could be far more dramatic than transplantation as well as being far safer.

I would not recommend transplanting at this time, and certainly not into the crown. Most don't transplant crowns until age 45.

Hi,
I am only eighteen years old and am beginning to receed in my hairline. It bothers me tremendously. I haven't tried Propecia yet but I have tried Rogaine. It only works for the crown of the head and my hair hasn't really started to do any falling out there. I am really considering a Hair Tranplant procedure. My father basically just has a very high hairline, that goes back about 1.5-2 inches back from where it should. Can you tell me if a Hair Transportation procedure should be reccomended or if I should try Propecia. I really hate how I look RIGHT now though. Please help!!
Thanks for your time,
Aaron Curtis

Rogaine and Propecia both work on the front in addition to the crown. During the studies, Rogaine was used on the crown for standardization, and were surprised that the FDA told them that they could only say it helps the crown.

You are too young for a transplant, but a wonderful candidate for medication.

Aaron,

Hey, I know exactly what you are going through. I started loosing my hair when I was 18 years old. My hairline started receding and it bothered me tremendously. Trust what I have to tell you, it comes after years of reading and speaking to dermatologists and hair transplant doctors.

There is nothing you can do about a frontal receding hairline. Propecia and Rogaine will only help you in the back of your head. A hair transplant is the only thing that will correct the frontal baldness. However, be careful because you don't know how far back your frontal receding hairline is going to go. thats why I would wait a while before I go ahead with a hair transplant. I'm 21 right right now and I had a hair transplant 8 months ago. It did amazing things to my bald frontal hairline. However, I am beginning to loose hair in the back of my head because I stopped using rogaine. Rogaine and propecia are designed to slow down the hair loss process or even stop it. They did stop it for me, but i got too comfortable with how i looked and i stopped using rogaine, so my hair started to shed. I WISH I could look like I did when I was 18, with only a receding hairlline. I have hairloss all over. My biggest mistake was stopping the use of rogaine. If I were you, I'd get on propecia and rogaine immediately. Don't even wait until tomorrow if you can help it. Hair loss at 18 years old means that you have a very agressive case of it (aren't we the lucky ones). Rogaine and propecia will help you keep your existing hair in the back of your head. I've seen guys go ocmpletely bald on top and a hair transplant does miracles for them. However, guys who are bald on top and in the back don't look as good with a transplant because a lot of the transplanted hairs went to the back. DON'T ALLOW YOURSELF TO GO BALD IN THE BACK. Start rogaine and propecia immediately

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy

Where did you get your HT work done "Why Me"?

What state do you live in?

I got my hair transplant done at Dr. Zeiring's office in Beverly Hills. Doctor Zeiring is a very skilled surgeon with amazing credentials. I would take a look at his website at www.zieringmedical.com. Take a look at some of the close up pictures of patients he has done. I had a case similar to what the guy who did 1350 grafts had. He totally filled in the balding regions of my temples. I'll tell you this. If Dr. Zeiring knows that you are NOT any any medications(especially propecia), according to what the consultants have told me, he won't even consider giving you a transplant since there as know way he can even make an educated guess about future hair loss. The best thing you can do for yourself is to go see a hair transplant surgeon, even if you are only remotely considering a hair transplant sometime in the future. They will give you the BEST information about your hairloss. Afterall, they are the experts. I started off by doing to a dermatologist and while she helped a bit, she did not have the in depth knowledge like Dr. Ziering did. Hair loss is a HUGE battle and I've come a LOONG way. If I could go back to being age 18, the FIRST thing I would do is go out and buy rogaine and propecia and use them on a daily basis. (Propecia requires a perscription). Rogaine is a BIG PAIN IN THE BUTT. But it could be either that BIG PAIN IN THE BUTT or your hair. Before I go, i'm gonna say it again. START FIGHTING YOUR HAIR LOSS NOW. If you think it looks bad now, in two years you will be wishing you can look like you do right now IF YOU DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I'm very assertive when I speak because I don't want you to go through the same thing that I did.

By the way, I had just under 1600 grafts done. Take a look at the guy on Zierings web site who had 1594 or something like that.

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy

To answer your other question, I live in southern CA, pretty close to Ziering's office.

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy

I guess you don't read any of my post.

You should read this thread.

Read this.

I'll make sure I put Ziering on my list, thanks.

Good luck with your hair for real.

"Through my magic potion business I meet a lot of guys who had work done at your age and younger. Now 10, 20 years later they come to me hoping for a miracle, because of their additional hair-loss."

I can understand why this would be true if a person did too many grafts at a young age. However, if you've looked at www.jotowen.com, you can see that a pretty steep pattern of hair loss can come to look cosmetically acceptable after several a lot of hair has been transplanted. After about 4900 grafts, this guy looks great, even though he is thinning. True, you can't predict your pattern of hair loss. However, If you don't waste too many grafts when you are young, as your hair loss progresses, you will have leftover grafts to fill in bald areas. I understand it will never look completely full. However look at the guy on jotowen.com, he looks GREAT compared to what he used to look like. I had 1600 grafts done in an area that can never grow back any hair(the temples). I want to go back for more density but I keep convincing myself not to because I may need that hair just to cover up some balder areas in the future. I don't see anything wrong in receiving a hair transplant at a young age, as long as the number of grafts one receives isn't too much. Most people have around 5000 grafts to transplant. And based on all my research and what hair transplant doctors have told me, while it is not enough to give people the density they might want, it is definitely enough to give a cosmetically acceptable look. I can testify to this and the hundreds of photos on this site can as well.

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy

Look me up in 10 years. You can tell me you told me so.

Right now you have to much of a stake in the game to be objective.

Good Luck and I really mean it.

I'll gladly look you up in ten years and I guarantee that I won't be saying "you told me so"

Every person is different so you can't make any kind of educated assumption about me. The only people who can are the expert hair transplant specialists who have seen me and diagnosed me.

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy

I just gotta say this.

No doctor with any ethics would do work on a 20 year old kid.

Especially a

quote:

---

expert hair transplant specialists

---

An empty chair means no business. HT doctors need to keep their chairs full.

The worse the doctor, the harder it is to fill the chair, the more unethical work they are willing to do. It's a nasty cycle that is financially driven.

Most people, my self included, would never believe a doctor would mis-lead you for their own financial gain.

But HT doctors like all doctors have overhead. They have to pay their bills.

Unlike conventional doctors, HT doctors usually only make money if and when they operate. Patient consultations are a financial burden. The chair is where the money is. Gotta keep the chairs full and the scalps bleeding.

If operating on a kid who really believes stretches your ethics a little but gets the bills paid then why not? If all goes well, the kid might not regret it for over 10 years. By then the doc will be retired or moved on.

Personally, on merits alone I would have the doctor who operated on you sent to jail for at least one year.

Whether or not your work comes out O.K. or not.

IT IS UNETHICAL IN MY OPINION TO DO HT WORK ON ANYONE UNDER 25 AND IN MOST CASES 30 YEARS OF AGE.

[This message was edited by MeHairBeGrowin on February 25, 2004 at 04:32 PM.]

"No doctor with any ethics would do work on a 20 year old kid"

Well I guess that means that there are no doctors in Los Angeles who have any work ethics because SEVERAL doctors in southern California all said the same thing. That is "you are very young so we have to be careful, however, right now the most we could do is work on you a bit in the temple region. I would wait quite a while before doing anything else" Thats the advice I got from every doctor that I visited and thats the advice that I'm going to take. I even asked a doctor what would happen if I agreed to put a down payment on another 1500 graft surgery to do a little bit of work in the back of my scalp and he said he would reject the idea and tell me to come back in a few years. That money that I could have given him for 1500 grafts could have been pretty valuable to him. Tell me, why didn't he just say ok?

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy

I really have nothing else to add.

At this point only time can teach you what you will wish you had known "right now at this point/time in your life".

I truly hope I am totaly wrong.

Good Luck for real.

i agree with mahairbegoin. I had a transplant at 18, in 1989, a little over 14 years ago, and it was the worst mistake of my life.

i'd say the amount of guys who had transplants under 25 and happy with their decision is about 1 in 10,000,000 10 years later if that.

My best advice, just buzz your head. young guys with buzzed heads is very common and "in" now adays

If your losing more and more hair why me, or the other young guys, starting at 18, you should focus on med's first for a few years. it sounds like from your description, your loss is very unstable/rapid. it sucks i went through it as best i could.

Playing the game of keeping up with your hairloss at 18/now 21 with transplants, is a game you will lose.

The doctor who operated on you, to fill in your temples at 20 or 21, should have his license revoked and thrown in prison for 5 years.

[This message was edited by baldbozo on February 25, 2004 at 06:31 PM.]

As I listen to everyone disagree I have a few questions. If you are under 25 and taking propecia
and the doc is doing f/u's why not have a HT. If you go to doc that is doing stand alone ht's why not. The game plan may be work the front and not work in the crown and see if propecia helps. If the average person has 6000 - 8000+ f/u's why not use 1500 and start to restore the front and help a guy regain some confidence.
For the other posters to say "No doctor with any ethics would do work on a 20 year old kid". Every person is different and I would hope that the doc that you choose would evaluate each patient on a one on one basis.

All I can say is do your research. I have had great results from Dr Ziering and would suggest giving him a call.
Also be careful of who is giving the advice, seek
a professional, not some guy pushing a product

thanks for backing me up. Doing a small/medium size transplant in the front of my head - WHERE HAIR WILL NEVER GROW by itself isn't gonna kill me. Can someone explain to me what the difference is in getting a hair transplant on my temples now, while I have NO hair in my temple region, or later, when I STILL WILL HAVE NO HAIR in my temple region. I understand it would probably be a bad move to get another one for the sake of density. But the first transplant that I did was just for the sake of giving me hair in a region that was never going to grow any. I don't understand what the big deal is. Even people with a Norwood 7 have had transplants and they look GREAT

Please Help Me
Frustrated Young Guy