How Young Is Too Young For A Hair Transplant?

Question

My 22-year-old nephew wants to get a hair transplant. I keep trying to tell him his hairline is not mature yet but he feels 22 is old enough. Am I wrong in my my thinking his hairline is still too young?

Sanusi Umar, MD · Answer

Many clinics agree  that younger patients should wait to have hair restoration surgery until the rate of their hair loss has slowed or steadied. Getting a hair transplant too soon may exhaust the donor supply of follicles remaining on the scalp.  Past this point, there would be no more resources left to repair the bald patches which could result. However, if a young man really wants a  hair transplant surgery, he may want to consider a specialist who extracts body hair grafts (e.g. beard hair).  This approach offers an additional recourse for filling in areas of missing hair should they develop.It would be important to select a doctor who not only has the capability, but also demonstrable experience producing excellent results on past patients.

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

Your nephew needs to see a doctor in person for an exam.  There is no absolute rule of when you can or cannot have a cosmetic surgery.  In general, an examination comes first, then a diagnosis.  Afterwards, the doctor can go over any treatment recomendation which may or may not include surgery.

Parsa Mohebi, MD, FISHRS · Answer

There is not set age for a hair transplant.  The rule used to be the age 24 since hair loss pattern could not be determined in all patients by then.  However, an experience doctor can perform a microscopic evaluation of scalp to see the pattern of future hair loss.  Microscopic evaluation in conjunction with family history of baldness can show the final pattern of baldness in most people and in most cases the doctor does not have to wait until the baldness becomes complete in order to proceed with a hair transplant.

Anastasios Vekris, MD · Answer

There is no proper age for anyone to have his hair restoration procedure. This decision is made according to one's needs, psychological situation and expectations. What is normally suggested is that until the age of 30s we experience gradual hair loss and rapid change of the image. Therefore a young person should know that in case of a hair restoration procedure performed in a young age he may need to repeat the session shortly in the future. In case the individual is not suffering from this change of his image we would propose conservative treatments until the age of 30s to standardise the hair loss.

Josh Surowitz, MD · Answer

Excellent question, thank you for posting this.Your nephew would be best suited by seeing a physician who specializes in hair restoration to get an expert opinion. Hair loss can have many different causes, the most common of which is male pattern baldnessl, also known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA).This can be treated medically with finasteride (Propecia) and minoxidil (Rogaine), non-surgically with Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT), or surgically with hair transplantation. Medical and non-surgical management cannot replace hair that has been completely lost, but can reverse hair that has become miniaturized (thinned) as a result of AGA. Options for hair transplantation include follicular unit transplant (also known as a strip procedure) and follicular unit extraction (also known as FUE). FUE is a technique where each individual hair follicle is removed from the back of the scalp and transplanted into the areas of loss. Neograft and the Artas robotic hair transplant are in fact simply devices which are used to perform FUE hair transplant. In addition to these there are several other ways to similarly perform FUE with the same beautiful results. Your nephew's assertion that 22 is "old enough" is generally incorrect. He has several decades for his hair loss to evolve and unfortunately, we have no real way to predict the ultimate severity and timing of his hair loss. With hair transplantation only so many grafts can be harvested from the donor area and you may have insufficient donor hair for future hair transplant. The best predictor of the degree of hair loss you will have is family history, but this is also not a perfect predictor. In in general I would recommend against hair transplantation in a 22 year old, especially if there is only mild loss.I suggest your nephew seek a consultation from an expert in hair loss and hair restoration to determine the very best option for him. Best of luck!

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

You're probably right on - but it's a good idea for your nephew to sit down 1 on 1 not just with one hair transplant surgeon - but a few. The message will likely be similar - 22 is usually a bit young. When hair transplants are done too early, one often spends the next many years chasing a receding hair line. In other words, it becomes almost mandatory that a few more hair transplants will be needed. Also, grafts usually end up being put in areas that probably won't look quite right at 42, 52 and 62. Your nephew needs to work through all these logistic details with a professional. He'll feel more confident in his decision to wait.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

I like the question. The issue is the progressive balding that young men experience as the get older. Genetic balding starts at about 18, but as it progresses, the pattern of the balding develops slowly. Any one undertaking a hair transplant before the pattern is evident, will be chasing the pattern with more and more hair transplants and if for any reason a more advanced balding pattern develops, there might not be enough hair to follow the balding pattern before running out of good donor hair. This is why I preach that every young man needs to develop a MASTER PLAN that will allow good planning, first with drugs to stop the hair loss which are often very effective in young men, then a transplant at the appropriate time. Usually, the drugs can hold the hair loss off until the young men reaches 25 or so, but that is why you need a good doctor to work that MASTER PLAN with each young man. As you can see there is no direct answer to your question, but with a good plan and a good doctor, the timing of a hair transplant is self evident.

Michael Meshkin, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

It depends on the type of hair loss, family history, your hair loss history and the degree of hair loss.  If your hair loss us diagnosed to be genetic male pattern hair loss and it is pretty much established you can be a good candidate for hair transplant.

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