28 year old hair transplant candidate? (Photo)

Question

I have been losing my hair since 20 when I had a stressful time in a relationship and at university (diet and sleep suffered and I had anxiety). In my teens I did dye my hair black and some hair fell out as a result. My hair is still progressively thinning. I keep it long on top to try and cover the visible scalp. It is causing me a lot of stress trying to compensate for the lack of hair and I haven't been sleeping too well. Do I look like a suitable transplant candidate?

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

Despite some answers you may read, photos and Internet posts do not make you a suitable candidate for a hair transplant.You need a diagnosis first.   You can't get a diagnosis with out a physical exam and a detailed history.  Photos are a good start but it isn't everything.You need to know how extensive your hair loss is with exam.  What happens if you continue to bald.Finally you need to convey exactly what you expect or want from surgery.  Just to "look better" or "have more hair" is not realistic.  For example: Hair transplant surgery does NOT always cover the thinning look or the "see through" look.Simply put, you need an exam, a diagnosis, a prognosis, and a treatment plan.  In the end you may not need surgery or realize surgery may not give you want you want.Many people on this site want quotes and what surgery may cost, but it is also highly variable between doctor to doctor.  This website is not Priceline.  It's not for price shopping. It's for general information and education.  It is ultimately up to you to contact the doctors you may consider and having a private consultation with the doctor.

Jayanthy Ravindran, MS, DNB, MRCS · Answer

Hey there, 
Lots of people are candidates for this form of surgery. 
Typically, anyone over the age of 18 who is experiencing thinning hair or baldness and has a healthy immune system will be a good candidate for this type of procedure.
Surgeons definitely proceed with caution before they approve candidates who are under the age of 18. So, age is a factor. Another factor is the general health of the patient. 
For example, a surgeon will look at medical history, current health conditions (if any) and then decide if it’s safe to perform the procedure.
More importantly, doctors prefer to perform hair transplants on patients who live healthy lifestyles. 
So, following a healthy diet, getting moderate exercise and practicing stress management will boost your odds of getting the “ok” for a hair transplant surgery.
Getting a one on one consultation from a cosmetic surgeon will be the best way to see if you’re a viable candidate for this type of procedure, as every patient is different.
I hope this helps.

Keith Durante, MD, FACS · Answer

Your male pattern baldness is progressing and however unfortunate, this can easily be rectified with a hair transplant procedure that would require approximately 2200 to 2500 hairs to obtain an excellent result with good backup triangulation. I see patients like yourself quite frequently in my practice and I am encouraged that you will also obtain an excellent result that you will enjoy and be confident with for the rest of your life. If progression persists, it may be a situation that will require a second procedure however if you're diligent with a good maintenance with good nutrition, vitamin supplements, possibly PRP injections and low laser light therapy you will be very happy.Good luck

Amiya Prasad, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

I’m a board certified cosmetic surgeon and I’ve been performing hair
transplant for 20 years in Manhattan and Long Island. The expectations of hair
transplants are very often not met because of overselling or aggressive
marketing combined with the reality of the limitations of the donor area. The
top of your head needs a certain number of hairs but unfortunately, the donor
area at the back of your scalp does not have enough hairs. In addition, the rate
of progression of your hair loss is too fast. There have been many patients who
tried to have transplant in their 20s to compensate for the hair loss. By the
time they hit their mid-30s, they really look like they didn’t have transplants
and still have thinning hair.

Many people have tried to use drugs like finasteride that is an
effective drug for male patients whose hair is DHT-sensitive. Finasteride is an
oral medication that inhibits an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase that facilitates
the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The challenge is
that many people don’t respond because their hair follicles are not responsive
to DHT. Therefore, there are a lot of unknown factors that are also
contributing to hair loss outside of DHT. There have also been numerous
chromosomes associated with hair loss which are approximately 11 of 23 pairs.

In our practice, we have been very excited to help patients using a
non-surgical option called Hair Regeneration. This was an accidental discovery
using a wound healing material called Acellular matrix in a hair transplant
that appeared to make thinning hairs to look thicker. Over several years, we
developed a system and process of doing an injection as an alternative to
transplantation that reversed hair thinning. It’s important to have this
treatment soon after your onset of hair loss. The rate of your hair loss
progression is also a factor that affects how well the treatment works. The
treatment has been close to a 100% beneficial for male pattern hair loss. There
are occasional patients who don’t respond to the treatment but that is a very
small group. We have not yet been able to figure out how to predict that, but
close to 100% of male pattern hair loss respond. It has been a huge success for
patients who come to us from around the world.

We have reached a point where we are now scaling this treatment to try
to bring it closer to people and the company we started is called Trichostem®
Hair Regeneration. Hair Regeneration is a onetime treatment. In some patients
after a year, we’ll do a second injection to build upon what we’ve done. In
someone like you, with your level of hair loss, you would probably get a second
treatment. With 3-5 years of data, we have been able to show no significant
regression with this treatment. From my experience, it far exceeds the benefits
of a surgical transplantation which has to be done every 3-5 years until you
run out of donor area. In someone in their 20s, we try to avoid surgical
transplantation altogether. I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of
luck, and thank you for your question.

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Michael Meshkin, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

The most common cause of hair loss in men is genetic male pattern hair loss.  From looking at your pictures, the degree of hair loss and the miniaturization of your existing hair you have genetic male pattern hair loss.  The best treatment option to regain your lost hair is hair tranplant.  The transplanted hair loss harvested from the donor zone in the back of your head.   The donor area looks nice and dense and you are a good candidate for hair transplant.  However, since hair loss progressive to keep the existing hair you also need to start on a medical regiment in combination to the transplant.  When seeking evaluation and treatment options,  be sure to contact a specialized hair transplant surgeon and see some before and after pictures to make sure they offer you options that is customized to your needs and concerns.

Sheldon S. Kabaker, MD FACS (retired) · Answer

If you can accept that a hair transplant will not give you a thick full head of hair as you had as a teenager, you could get a very nice result. You may likely need more than one session. See a hair restoration surgeon in person.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

Your biggest enemy is the
progressive balding that you might have in the past or next 5 or so years. The
degree of balding that you are showing would suggest that before you undertake
a hair transplant, you try the drug finasteride for one year. Get Bulk Measurements
of your hair to determine the degree of the progression of your balding or the
effectiveness of the drug finateride if you should go on it. Finasteride can
successfully stopp or reversed the hair loss and you need to get insights into
your immediate and long term future. If you are developing a more advanced
balding pattern which the Bulk Measurements will show over a one year time
frame (HAIRCHECK Instrument), then you and your doctor need to develop a MASTER
PLAN and not jump to a hair transplant too quickly, particularly if the
drug solves your problem. The pictures you supplied are very poor, so that my
answer reflects my general approach to young men who I try to slow down the
transplant decision until they first try the drug Propecia.  You might
have obvious recession and that might make you a candidate for a hair transplant,
but with the poor pictures, I can’t tell for sure. Even if you were a
transplant candidate, the drug Propecia will protect you against shock loss, a
complication of hair transplants in young men.

28 year old hair transplant candidate? (Photo)

Answers (7)

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