Can I get a hair transplant at the age of 22? (Photo)

Dear Amanchawla
Thank you for posting this question. This is a very important issue in the field of hair restoration surgery.  The problem with transplanting a young person, such as a 22 year old man, is that we don't have a solid idea of how much hair loss is going to occur over the next several decades.  As the saying in our field goes, "the good thing about hair transplant results is that they are permanent....the bad thing about hair transplant results is that they are permanent."  If, despite efforts to slow the hair loss, you progress to a Class 6 or 7 within the next 20 years, the original work done will still be along your hairline. As this is not a pattern of hair loss typically found in nature, it is an unusual appearance that can be socially crippling later in life.  Therefore, approaching a frontal hairline reconstruction in a younger person should always be approached with caution and prudence.
You might be thinking to yourself, “I won’t care about my hair when I’m 50!”....but let me strongly assure you that you most definitely weill care about your hair when you’re 50. As you age you always feel “young” inside, but your face and body age...you won’t enjoy the aging process no matter how old or young you are. So please don’t think that you can just have whatever hairline you want today and not worry about it when you’re 50 if it looks unnatural, because you most certainly will be concerned with unnatural hair patterns no matter how old you are.
Fortunately, recent advances in technology have expanded the ways and effectiveness of preventing hair loss.  Finasteride (eg: Propecia) has been around since about 1998 for hair loss. More recently, the science of low-level laser therapy (eg: LLLT) has advanced such that a majority of those who use a high-quality LLLT device can expect the progression of their hair loss to dramatically slow down or appear to stop altogether.  In younger people, especially those under 25, there is a decent chance that some of the miniaturized follicles will become thicker and return to terminal (eg: thick, non-thinning hair). Other therapies that have shown promise include platelet rich plasma (eg: PRP), and placental stem cell therapies are also being studied as ways to control the progression of hair loss.
Personally, I require men under 24 to undergo at least 8 months of preventive therapy to see if the progression of the hair loss can be controlled with LLLT or PRP. I hope this information is helpful to you.
Kind Regards,
Ken Anderson, MD, FISHRS

If you are considering surgery it would be best to discuss your options with a doctor.  You need to explain to your doctor your goals and expectations. The doctor needs to examine you to give you a better assessment of what treatments are suitable for you.

It will be best for you to visit a hair specialist doctor and start off with the medicine to stop hair fall at this stage for around one year. If the hairfall will not stop, then you can consider a hair transplant for this area.

You may want to just try combing your hair forward onto your forehead a little. This may take the shine off of the forehead just below the hairline and solve your problems. Otherwise, consult a hair transplant physician whose work and results you know of.

A male who is 20 should not have a hair transplant or a hairline advancement surgery because if you do and develop balding behind the corrected hairline, you will not look normal. If you get a hairline advancement surgery you will see a scar. If you have a hair transplant before your balding pattern become evident, then you will be chasing hair transplants for the next decade. You should wait until your potential balding pattern becomes evident, which is 25 years of age. 
Your biggest enemy is the progressive thinning leading to a balding pattern that may not evident at this point in time. The degree of hair loss that you are experiencing would suggest that you should see a doctor who most likely will get Bulk Measurements of your hair to determine the degree of the thinning that you may be presently having. If the diagnosis is early genetic hair loss (the most common cause of hair loss in young men and you are following your families balding problem), then the best treatment would be the drug finasteride which is highly effective in men of your age and may not only stop the hair loss but possibly reverse it. If you are developing a more advanced balding pattern the best test to get is the HAIRCHECK instrument test (for bulk measurements) and this will show, over a one-year time frame, how effective the treatment will be or if you are not on drugs, using this instrument to tell you if you have ANY hair loss at all.  Once you know this information, then you and your doctor need to develop a MASTER PLAN which will define what you need