22, Considering a Hair Transplant, REALLY NEED ADVICE/HELP!

[Breaking Bald]

Alright fellow Hair Loss sufferers,

I started loosing my hair at around 19 years old, I didn't notice it much because it was only happening very slowly. My temples began to recede only slightly so it wasn't much of a big deal. But the past year really has been hell...I have been unemployed for over a year and have been going in and out of depression, making the situation worse.

My crown has began to thin drastically at an alarming rate and my temples have receded much further back, and in general my hair has lost the texture that it once had. I understand male pattern baldness is not easy for anyone, why would we be here otherwise? But losing my hair like this in my early twenties has been responsible for a huge blow in my self confidence. I have always had really thick and beautiful hair that I would usually wear in long styles, I would often get compliments about my hair and it has always been something that I have liked about myself. I never thought I would lose my hair :unsure:

I find that it is beginning to destroy my image and take over my life as it is always on my mind. I have tried to accept it and have considered shaving my head but I just simply cannot get used to the idea.

I am not on any treatments other than Nizoral 2-3 times per week and Amino acids/Vitamins daily.
I do not want to take Propecia or Rogaine due to the sides and I am just uncomfortable about the idea of being on medication for the rest of my life.

I had some money saved up to go traveling around the world, but I have sacrificed that money for a future hair transplant. I know I am young (22) and I was hoping that my hair would stabilize that I would not need to do anything for a few years or more, but it seems to just have slowed down (for now...) but it is still getting worse.

I'm so sick of worrying about it that I just want something done, I know it is not recommended for younger people to have hair transplant's, but surely mine is at a stage now where I would benefit from one? I have had one consultation with Transform with Dr Bhatty who advised me to wait a year before considering a hair transplant.

I really need some help from people who have gone down the hair transplant route.
Has anyone on here had a good hair transplant in the U.K?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

22 and balding like that...well I won;'t do it in your place really.

 

[Breaking Bald]

22 and balding like that...well I won;'t do it in your place really.

Sorry, I don't understand what you mean? Are you saying that you would go for hair transplant if your hair was that bad at 22?

 

[Breaking Bald]

Firstly your hairloss is aggressive in terms of the current level of miniaturisation so you should be on meds to avoid further hairloss as well potentially thickening existing hair. Having an hair transplant done now could make things worst due to shockloss and your hair not being protected by finasteride. I would avoid clinics in the UK apart from Farjo, Belgium has several top doctors such as Feriduni and ********. Thats besides the point at the moment since you need to be on finasteride for a yeare before looking at hair transplant. What would you do if you go for an hair transplant now and find you lose more hair with limited donor? You would be in a difficult position.

Are there really no decent surgeons in the U.K? I find is very frustrating, surely there must be a few?

Well I have very good donor hair, my hair at the back is very thick. So surely if I had one hair transplant for the crown area and then continued to have one for the frontal area once it had progressed worse, this would be enough to give me a relatively decent head of hair?

I am scared about the effects of propecia, I do not like the idea of going on any medication that messes with my hormone levels. Are you in on meds Ben? I see you had your transplant at only a couple of years older than me.

 

[Breaking Bald]

Thanks for the replies, However I am really struggling to understand why people are so relaxed about taking Propecia. Fair enough if you are taking it and it is working for, then that's great, hats off to you, it is your own choice. But our bodies and hormones are finally tuned and I believe that altering our hormones even slightly may have serious consequences in the future. What about all the new research implying that it may increase the risk of high-grade prostate cancer, and the potential risk of male breast cancer. Does this not concern anybody? :dunno:

With regards to having a transplant young, why is this something to be concerned about? Surely shock less is just as common in somebody who is older and has a hair transplant. If anything, I thought that being younger would be more advantageous as your body is in its prime. Surely, having a hair transplant at the crown would be a good choice because it is a large area on your head and it would enable me to have good coverage of hair on my head immune from DHT? Then when the front hair begins to fall I would have another -and possibly final- hair transplant to fill out and thicken the rest?

 

[Breaking Bald]

Some useful and good advice Ben which I very much appreciate , and I do understand what you are saying. A couple of things though, I know at this stage my hair loss looks relatively aggressive, but can we really class it as 'aggressive'? What I mean is just because it goes through a big shed, it may halt and stay like this for several years or more. I know that my Dad went through this when he was younger, where it would shed really aggressively but would then stablilise for large periods of time, until this day his crown has stayed in relatively good shape. He started losing his hair at around the same age as me, and I suppose I am desperately hoping that it won't get any lower down towards my neck and will stabilise to some degree until I am older (wishful thinking...).

Also when you say that I need to do more research, do you mean research about the surgeons and hair transplant's? I know about Propecia and what it does, however I have made the decision not to risk its effects. I may consider Minoxidil, but I am still unsure.

 

[mjb]

I am in the same boat as you. Ive just gone 23 and my hair is worse than yours at the crown. You need to get on finasteride as soon as possible and slow it down. Get on minoxidil asap too. At our age you have to face that the only thing you can is slow it down. Dont get a hair transplant. You will be left with scars and with the loss that you will have in the future you wont have enough donor hair to get a full head of hair. The side effects are for the minority and you if you dont get on meds now I think you will lose your hair a lot quicker.

 

[Breaking Bald]

I am in the same boat as you. Ive just gone 23 and my hair is worse than yours at the crown. You need to get on finasteride as soon as possible and slow it down. Get on minoxidil asap too. At our age you have to face that the only thing you can is slow it down. Dont get a hair transplant. You will be left with scars and with the loss that you will have in the future you wont have enough donor hair to get a full head of hair. The side effects are for the minority and you if you dont get on meds now I think you will lose your hair a lot quicker.

What meds are you currently one? Had any success?

 

[bagel]

I've been taking finasteride for 10 years. I have absolutely zero doubt that it has saved my hair. I started losing it in secondary school at 17 and began finasteride at 19. I'm 29 now and can pull off a full head of hair. You do seem to have aggressive hair loss and halting it with finasteride is your only option. Anyone who operated on you without slowing down your hair loss with meds first is not a doctor you should be trusting. What are you gonna do if you get a transplant and the rest of your hair falls out exactly?

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oh and i have absolutely no problem standing up straight if you know what i mean.

no, it's not the only option.

this guy had a good experience.

i, on the other hand, took propecia when i was 19 only to have my sex drive go down the toilet. then, i had to deal with hard flaccid penis, numbness of penis, curvature of penis, brain fog, & had to quit my job because i nearly passed out on multiple occasions. today, i'm 23 and still dealing with the problems.

if you really want to keep your hair and do it safely, go to http://immortalhair.forumandco.com/ ...saying that these medicines which are poison is the only option is absolutely ridiculous. i have no doubt you can stop your hair loss completely if you take the necessary steps of getting your thyroid running again and detoxing and changing your diet.

good luck & beware of finasteride -- look here for more proof why you shouldn't touch it -- http://propeciahelp.com/

 

[Breaking Bald]

Sorry folks I do appreciate the advice but I have ruled out the idea of taking propecia completely, call me mad! but I just do not like the idea of taking it at all to be honest. Bagel: I will take a look at that website, but from what I have read so far on here it does not seem like any natural meds really have much impact on male pattern baldness. Got any advice on what ones to try out?

Thanks

 

[mjb]

What meds are you currently one? Had any success?

It has definitely slowed down my hair loss. I have been on the big 3 (nizoral, minoxidil and propecia) for about 3 years. You need to get on these if you want to stand any chance of fighting this. I understand you dont want to take finasteride but if you get a hair transplant they will tell you to take it and some surgeons wont operate if your not on it already. Please reconsider otherwise you might as well give in. Getting a transplant isnt the easy way out, you will lose the rest of your hair and be left with patches of hair so consider the long term. Hopefully something better will be available eventually but until then you need to fight it with everything you can.

 

[Beingbaldsucksass]

It looks REDICOULOS, just shave it

 

[maxsampson2000]

Your hairloss looks to be really aggressive. I would consider using minoxidil topically to see if it could slow it down. I know you don't want to be on medication for the rest of your life, but topical application of minoxidil isn't such a big deal, it's 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes before bedtime and just becomes a part of your routine that you don't even think about and your use of Nizoral should be able to prevent/ minimise dandruff assuming you even develop any.

If you were to get a hair transplant now, it'd probably look quite strange in a few short years with erratic bald patches growing in your native scalp areas which is why a lot of older people say to try and wait it out so that you can appreciate a more natural look later on. I'd only consider it if your hair loss was stabilised and slow and if you were willing to invest in more hair transplantation procedures a few years down the track. As is, it looks to be too rapid to be worth investing so much money and effort into getting a hair transplant right now.

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Sorry folks I do appreciate the advice but I have ruled out the idea of taking propecia completely, call me mad! but I just do not like the idea of taking it at all to be honest. Bagel: I will take a look at that website, but from what I have read so far on here it does not seem like any natural meds really have much impact on male pattern baldness. Got any advice on what ones to try out?

Thanks

That's a good decision imo. Propecia gave me impotence and it affected me for MONTHS even after I discontinued it. There have been instances where guys have claimed they suffer from permanent erectile dysfunction as a direct result of using finasteride. Messing with your hormones can be a dangerous thing, and for me I'd personally rather accept the recession of my hair line than to have erectile dysfunction.