20 yr old interested in hair transplant, comments

[peacemaker]

Hi all,


I am a 21 year old male w/ no family history of baldness. My father has Norwood 2 (looks a bit worse than me). My grandfather is much better, doesn't even have Norwood 1 (don't know how that is as he is almost 90). My mom's family all have hair, more than necessary even. It seems that I got the bad genes (maybe from my great great great grandma?). I also have been through very stressful times (3+ years) with my relationships, with college applications and family etc. When I first realized some thinning, I bought perfect image's shampoo without thinking or researching on the issue. When it got banned I switched to regenepure. Now that I have some time to myself, I want to take care of my body and have a less stressful life.

I want you guys to give me some advice, analyze what condition I am in etc. Now, researching more about the things that I can do, I think that I want a hair transplant (the one wayne rooney had), as I want to minimize the long-term health risks and I always think of what would I do if I fell onto an island with no medicines. Anyway, what I am planning is to do is to stop regenepure to see if the thinning continues and start using a natural shampoo. Afterwards, I am going to go and see a doctor and discuss the hair transplant options.

The reason that I am going for hair transplant at this early stage is.. 1. I don't want to use daily pills, anything other than natural shampoo and soap, 2. I think that it's better sooner rather than later as I can still see very thin hairs on my scalp when I used to have hair. I think that the doctor can easily see how my hair line used to look like and do a better job.

Good plan, you think?

 

[Quantum Cat]

I'm afraid most people who get hair transplants still have to use Propecia/Finasteride otherwise you'll simply continue losing hair in the non-transplanted areas. But of course everyone's male pattern baldness progress is different, but also there's no way of predicting when, how badly and how fast your own male pattern baldness will progress.

hair transplants are also incredibly expensive and you'll usually need more than one - basically they're not the miracle cure the press sometimes makes them out to be. Or at least that's the impression I've got about hair transplants but I'm no expert on them.

Rooney's one looks bad IMO, but then he is an ugly bastard - like trying to polish a turd :woot:

 

[peacemaker]

How much would you think it would cost me to get hair transplant for my condition? I wouldn't be constrained to pay about $10,000. I also am quite sure that my hair will not recede much more (looking at my dad, I have the exact same skull, hair etc). Worst case scenario, I would have to pay that amount again in 10 years and I am sure that I will have earned that much by then.

- - - Updated - - -

Yea, maybe Rooney's not a good example. The surgeon might have been a Chelsea fan, but I've also seen successful examples on the net. Also, is there a way to reshape what's done after the surgery?

 

[talmoode]

hi I am no expert either but have been thinking about hair transplant since last year but am still on the fence, waiting if a bettter hair transplant technique will come along or the Big Three I have been on for the last 16 months will finally kick in and give me some decent results...
Anyway, my hair is very similar to yours and hair transplant doctors I was talking to gave me a quote. 1000 - 1200 grafts FUE for $9000 to $15000, depending on which doctor you are going for. Please do plenty of research!

Good luck, mate!

 

[Abercrombie]

You need to understand that having the same headshape, hair characteristics/color, thickness etc as your father does NOT, i repeat NOT, mean that you will have the same hairloss as he did. It's just not the way it works. When someone starts to recede at such a young age as yourself it is VERY likely that you will experience aggressive male pattern baldness and I can guarantee that the loss you can see now is only the beginning.

The only thing you can do right now is to get on propecia and rogaine and then try to hold on to as much hair as possible until you turn atleast 30. A hair transplant is in no way an option for you and no serious doctor would even look at you right now.

Best of luck!

 

[Rawtashk]

1: I'm going to tell it like it is....it would be an ​ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE IDEA TO GET A HAIR TRANSPLANT AT YOUR AGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can not stress this enough. You can not base your hair on anyone else in your family. My roommate right now is one of 5 boys in his family. His dad has nearly perfect hair, as do all his siblings. Sadly, he is balding fairly quickly. YOU ARE 20! YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH FARTHER YOUR LOSS WILL PROGRESS!!!!!!!!!!

2: If you're going to do a hair transplant, then you NEED to get on Propecia FIRST, and for about a year so that you can judge how well you respond to it. Don't be naive and think that "at worst I'll have to have 1 more procedure". At worst you'll end up as a NW6, which means you'll have random hairs on your hairline, and nowhere else.

Don't do it. A hair transplant is NOT the first step that should be taken when addressing hairloss.

 

[The_Mentalist]

I was gonna say what Ab. and Raw already said above. No responsible doctor can do hair transplant on you given that your loss is no way near the finish line. Even after hair transplant, they would ask you to take finasteride. no matter what. Please post surgeon's name and address here if any actually offers to do the transplant on you at this stage-we all need to keep an eye on greedy surgeons.

 

[peacemaker]

Why is everyone obsessed about finasteride? I really don't want to take a drug that has the potential to affect my body in the long-term. Merck is going to report a lot of losses this year because of all the litigations. Why do people insist on taking Propecia, whereas there are hair transplant techniques such as neograft that doesn't even leave scarring tissue on your scalp? Do people not realize that Merck is in a lot of trouble because of that?

I really really don't want to start taking Propecia and would consider getting bald rather than starting it. I have an appointment with a doctor in a month and a half's time. Hopefully, I will get some answers from him about whether my hair is thinning right now, etc.

 

[Jrthomas85]

Peacemaker, you seem closed off to peoples' comments and input, which is what you asked for. The posters above have given you sound advice, even if it isn't what you want to hear.

The bottom line is that even if you find a doctor who is willing to give you a hair transplant right now, you will continue to lose hair in other areas without taking a 5 AR inhibitor (Propecia/Finasteride) for maintenance. If not, you will look silly as the hair around your transplanted hairs becomes thinner. Why would you want to go through that when you stand a good chance of keeping the hair you have or possibly regrowing with a pill that has been proven to be safe with the vast majority of users?

 

[gascoigne]

Yes, but for how long? For how long can really finasteride stop our hairloss? I mean hairline at first. Or it will slow it down?

 

[peacemaker]

Yea, the problem is... I am asking for SOUND advice, not that I am trying to not hear what other people has to say, as you people are saying. From what people have said, it seems that Propecia/finasteride is the ONLY solution to stop hair loss and regain some of what I've lost. However, I will see its full effects if I take the drug CONTINUOUSLY for a year. Moreover, I will have to take the drug CONTINUOUSLY even after that to keep what what I will have at that point. I would have been Ok if you had to take it for, let's say, only 3 months. However, do you people read the news? It seems that some people who have taken the drug have "persistent" sexual dysfunction and "severe" depression! It even came up randomly in one of my Finance classes that I am taking right now, when we were discussing about current news.

There are currently 265 pending lawsuit against Merck, http://www.prweb.com/releases/Propecia-Lawsuits/Propecia-Side-Effects/prweb10209207.htm, and Merck is trying to negotiate with the FDA to ONLY save its *** and update the labels to include the potential side effects.

On the other hand, you guys are saying that Hair Transplant is ABSOLUTELY not recommended based on what? My hair would look silly if I quickly lose what's behind the transplanted area. Well, so let's see the risks involved. "Persistent" Sexual Dysfunction (I don't care about severe depression), and the fact that my hair will look funny for a while. You do the math, please!

 

[Rawtashk]

Ya....good talk, peacemaker. People are "obsessed" with finasteride because it's the only FDA approved way to stop male pattern baldness. All you're doing is listening to the scaremongers, then dismissing people who've had positive results and no side effects. Everything has a "potential" for something negative to happen. On average, 115 people are going to get in a car today....and die in a car wreck. Are you also not going to get in cars for the rest of your life?

But, in the end, it's your choice. You go ahead and enjoy that $10,000 hair transplant...that will most likely require you to get a 2nd hair transplant down the road, and will still leave your hair much MUCH thinner on top than you are right now. I'll be sitting here, "obsessed" with finasteride, spending $4 a month, and having much better hair than you, despite being nearly 10 years older.

 

[peacemaker]

I didn't know that hair transplant killed the hair follicles at the back. Despite your harsh tone, thank you for the comment. I recently talked to my friend who has been taking finasteride for 1.5 years. He seems to be doing fine. So maybe the drug is not so bad after all. However, it seems to be the best option to wait at least a bit and see how the litigations will play out.

I have a question for you guys... What if I take finasteride and get my hair back.. Would it be possible protecting it by only using Minoxidil to reduce the side effects?

 

[Quantum Cat]

if you wait for the litigations to play out you'll probably be waiting for a couple of decades at least