I Am 21 Years Old Can I Go for Hair Transplant? (photo)

Dear goadfather54There is no age limit as such for a hair transplantation. But people under the age group of 18 years to 80 years usually options for hair transplantation as the symptoms of balding and spot balding occur within this span of life.

A doctor needs to examine you first to make sure you are a surgery candidate with good donor hair. The examination may find that you may be at an increased risk of further hair loss and the surgery may actually make the you look WORSE or require more surgery.

You also have to understand that hair transplant surgery is not a cure and that they will continue to have further hair loss of non-transplanted hairs. You need to have realistic goals and understand what is possible and what is not possible with surgery.

The conventional approach is the assumption of poor candidacy due to young age. These days however, with the advent of advanced FUE techniques such as my uGraft which enable the use of head and non head hair in transplantation, even young patients can be evaluated and counseled for a possible hair transplant. With this degree of hair loss at your age, it should be assumed you would be terminally bald eventually. SO any use of head donor must be strictly within the confines of the safe donor area. Next, you should do FUE instead of FUT strip method, since you level of hair loss would likely favor buzz cutting your hair at some point. A strip scar would preclude this hair grooming choice. Finally, a Buzz cut would cut donw on the number of grafts you would require in the long run. Definitely consult with  a hair loss specialist. Watch this vide which discusses a successful HT approach in a young patient.

All the recommendations you have gotten are correct.  You should wait until you hair loss pattern becomes stable.  Then the true nature of the loss can be evaluated and potentially treated.

Dr. ES

There are many methods of hair transplantation.  Wanted them RFUE and another can be a surgical flap.  Grafts can be taken with as few as one hair follicle or multiple follicles.  The quality of the hair, the number of follicles per unit and the location in which the hair is to be placed are all important determinants in the final result.  While it is a common misconception that hair can and should be taken from any location, taking appropriate hair from an appropriate location is key to success.  For instance, one cannot always use hair from a beard to replace a frontal hairline.  The orientation in which Harris placed is also important.  If the frontal hairline is being created then it is important to make sure that hairs are aligned in the correct orientation.  The way the hair is also laid down, for example a staggered pattern versus a straight line will also change the quality of the result.  You should certainly visit with a surgeon who does many of these types of transplantations as well as offers multiple options for hair restoration.  The cost can vary by geographic locale.  In general they can arrange from $7000-$25,000.  When you go over consultation ask for before and after photographs.

The dilemma of hair restoration at young age is still not resolved. At one side is the strong psychological need for hair and on other side is the practical issue of on-going loss and final graft requirement. One has to devise a plan to balance these issues in long term. My personal approach to this problem is,

1. Stabilization: Stop or minimize ongoing hair loss with medicines. This not only delays baldness, but may even result in some cosmetically useful growth. 2. Frontal Coverage: A mature hairline design with deep temporal troughs and emphasis on frontal forelock region, not just hairline.

3. Conservation: Minimum number of hair adequate for desired cosmetic results should be used. My personal preference is FUE in such patients, as we can pick and choose the type of grafts. Avoid dense packing.

4. Reassess: As the need arises, further sessions should be incorporated in the plan. Body hairs should be used judiciously when required.

Perhaps, the most pertinent advice would be to plan long term with your doctor. Keep your expectations low and head high.

You have advanced hair loss for your age. You need to get in to a hair transplant surgeon to discuss all of your medical and surgical options.  Evn though you show your crown, the frontal hairline will take priority.  All of this will be discussed during your in-person consultation.  Do not think that you will get all the answers you need from the internet.  Best, Dr. P

At this age it is best to develop a careful plan with your physician before undergoing anything.  You may have to do a combination of approaches that includes medications.  Always consult directly with an MD or 2 if you can. 

You do appear to have an advanced balding pattern and I am guessing that your ancestry is Asian. First, you should try the drug finasteride (Finpecia in India) which possibly might reverse the hair loss. For a balding area the size of yours, hair transplants require a very high donor density which is usually not present in Asian people so the donor supply might not be enough to cover the balding area. Start with medications and see what happens. 

There are two ways to deal with the amount of hair loss in his age. Number one is to address the hair loss. We can slow down, stop and even reverse the hair loss with injections called ACell. This is a form of cloning material that reactivates your adult stem cells which are dormant after you are born and turns them into progenitor cells. It then brings those progenitor cells to the site of injury and restores the progenitor cell protection of the hair follicles from the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In my practice, we had a lot of success of slowing down, stopping and even in some cases reversing hair loss in young people. In fact, younger people do better with this type of treatment.
The second thing is either to take those injections independently or combine it with Propecia or medication that is FDA approved to see whether we could stop or slow down your hair loss, and possibly reverse it as well. The interesting part is that Propecia blocks the conversion to DHT which is the enemy of the hair follicles. The hair follicles are genetically sensitive and the actual progenitor cells increases the protection of the hair follicles against the DHT. So if the person wants to do both, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s probably better than either one separately.
If we would go ahead and do a hair transplant on you, we would start on the front of the head and restore a higher hairline so that we can frame your face again. We should also see to it that you get the level of protection from the injections. I thank you very much for your question.