All younger hair loss members, I'd like to "meet" you so if you could post here. If you think you qualify as young, feel free to post here. I just want to see what you all are doing for your hair loss, how you are feeling, your age, etc. HOpefully we can support each other.

No offense to the older membmers but to me it just seems WAY worse to loose hair at an age like 17. I don't think I would even mind starting to lose it at like 40 or so, it would MAKE MORE SENSE because I was getting older, it is a part of life and I just accept that. But this? 17 I'm NOT supposed to have htis happen NOW. Of course I am 19 now. Plus I say those things but if I was actually in taht situation I can't (and never will be able to) say if that would be true, at 40 I prolly still WOULD care.

Please post :-)

It certainly is no picnic to lose one's hair as a teenager. I began to notice my loss at 18 years old. While all your friends have to worry about is a summer job, how to ask out the girl they are interested in, or getting into the college of their choice, a young hair loss sufferer has all of this PLUS finding themselves combing thier hair this way and that trying to hide that growing thin temporal region. It can be very disconcerting.

Young Loser, you have only been active on the forums for a couple of days but you have already proven to be an asset with your thread down in the "Hair Systems" forum with your post on your experiences.

Thanks for sharing and again, welcome to the forums!

-Robert

That's what I thought when I was 19 ("I don't think I would even mind starting to lose it at like 40 or so")... That's not how I feel now though at 45 - it's still almost just as depressing. At least the technology is available today to get a natural looking hair transplant so you have some hope. The only thing available at that time for me would have been one of those ridiculous doll's head plug jobs, which would have been even worse than being bald.

PB

I toke some powerful medication at 19 where I lost some vision, hearing, and hair. The hearing improved but the eyes and hair got worse. I had thinning at 19 until 25 where I started Propecia. At 30 I had 3,800 grafts. HT's are not the answer for the depression; in fact it brought on more depression as the results were poor. I wish I accepted hair loss and moved on. Hair loss sucks and it does change your life. You will always look thinning with a transplant as there is not enough hair to go around

I agree with Eastcoast. While on the surface, a hair transplant may seem like it would be the obvious "cure" for thinning, it is not. Even for the "perfect" candidate with:

1. Suitable donor area
2. Minimal loss
3. Hair loss stabilized (as much as possible, of course)
4. Adequate scalp laxity.
5. all other physical considerations.

A patient also has to be mentally prepared for the consequences of surgery. It can be a very stressful experience and very mentally taxing. There is a lot of talk about the limitations of surgery, but not enough emphasis on what that really means. A physician has to be a coach, of sorts for the interested patient to ensure that they are ready to make the leap.

Many patients experience a post-surgical depression of sorts. Many actually have romanticized the surgery in their head in their months or even years of preparation to where they believe that the surgery will be a magic wand for everything. When they realize that this is not so, it can most certainly lead to depression.

The post-op depression is certainly not limited to younger patients, though, as many patients in their 40's and older have reported the same effects.

-Robert

Young Loser,

Although I am now in my early 40's I began losing my hair at 16-17 so I feel well qualified to respond. Your feelings are very normal and natural so don't feel like you're alone. Please know that we care! Everything cited by Robert I experienced like difficulty beginning to date, self consciousness about going away to college, questions/comments from others, no longer wanting to swim, the list could go and on.

As I have said before I find it very refreshing now that younger guys are accepting their situation to the point of shaving their heads. This was definately not the case during what I fondly refer to as the "big hair" decade of the 80's. Yet I know that this look is not desired by everyone and for others hairloss is extremely traumatic.

I also agree wholeheartedly with Robert that hair restoration is not a "cure all", especially in regards to depression. I know that all too well from my proceedures! Becoming as emotionally and physically healthy as you can be, through diet, exercise, and maybe even some counseling will put you in the best possible state to eventually address the hairloss issue.

PCC