How is Recession Years After a Hair Transplant?

Hair transplant years later may not look good--ask Joe Biden, Michael Keaton, etc. If someone is going to have front to crown baldness, they may not have enough hair later to look natural. See an experienced surgeon who does hair transplants and the Fleming-Mayer Flap to discuss your goals of both methods.

Hair transplant is a long term solution if you have a PLAN.  If you have a "Master Plan" for how to plan for surgery and anticipate the hair recession, it would be a great long term solution.  This is why doctors caution young men looking for a quick solution.

Yes, hair transplant surgery is typically a long-term solution to baldness, in the hands of a good surgeon. Due to the progressive nature of male pattern baldness, patients are generally required to be over the age of 24. In your case, at 35 years old, your hair loss should be fairly progressed. However, everyone is different—some men lose their hair later in life. A more detailed consultation with a hair transplant surgeon will reveal how much your hair loss is projected to progress and thus, if a hair transplant is worth your while right now or if you should wait. Generally speaking, donor hair is not DHT sensitive and once implanted, should never fall out again. At 45, 55, and 65, your hair transplant should still look great.

It is the job of the hair transplant surgeon to not only have a plan and account for future hair loss, but also to educate his/her patient as to this fact.  Properly designed, a hair transplant can be a long term - and sometimes a permanent - solution for hair loss, even in a younger patient, with the ability as always to have a second procedure as indicated and explained to the patient.

You ask a very valid question, and a good point why sometimes it might not be the best idea to have a hair transplant.However, if you consult an ethical, experienced and skilled hair transplant surgeon, then they should be able to advise you about the right timing and the appropriate hairline design to take future hair loss into consideration. they should also discuss what the plan of action would be in case of such eventVery important to consider Propecia, Minoxidil or low level laser therapy to avoid or at least delay future surgery

A good question.  It is important for the doctor to design hair transplant in order to compensate for future recession as patient ages.  If a juvenille hairline is created with transplant and normal recession continues you can wind up with an unnatural result.  The donor hair is usually permanent.  The problem is you have little control of future hair loss.  If you get a hair transplant it needs to be designed appropriately so that it accommodates future hair loss. 

The hair-bearing skin we move in transplantation is genetically programmed to grow late into life. The goal of successful surgery is to make you look natural as you age. Careful placement and construction of the frontal hair-line and anticipation of continuing loss are critical for long-range planning. The addition of Propecia (finasteride) to enhance hair retention will reap tremendous rewards.

You are asking an excellent question and if you do have any consultation for this procedure make sure that your doctor discusses this.

In general, it is wise to try to anticipate further hair loss when planning transplantation in a younger person.  Medications may help reduce further hair loss (propecia or rogaine) but are not guaranteed.

Because there is an ultimate limit in the number of grafts available over a lifetime to use, careful use of the existing donor hair is critical.  Key issues in younger patients are to plan a hairline that will continue to look natural even if there is further hair loss and to be cautious transplanting extensively in the crown (back of the scalp) which may continue to expand over time.

Hair restoration surgery is not a long term solution for baldness. A hair transplant is to help make areas where hair has been lost look better. However a transplant does not keep you from losing more hair. Propecia and Rogaine will be discussed to help slow down the loss of native hair long term.

People continue to bald because genetic balding is a progressive process. The key is what was the long term plan when you had the transplant?  I always take a worst case scenario when I plan a transplant session with my patient telling them always that a single hair transplant in a male does not stop the balding process. If you are thinning, consider scalp micropigmentation to treat your thinning (see web reference below)