Risk of early hairline transplants

[jd_uk]

I posted a link to this recently but it was deleted by a moderator because it was written on anothee forum. Instead i've copied and pasted the text and image because I think it is quite important people are aware of the risks of having an early hair transplant procedure.

"Like most clinics, we get our fair share of patients who wish for surgery at a relatively young age. Often the loss is minimal but devastating and the first thing they want to do is "fix it" and regain what was lost and hope to carry on as before the loss was evident.

Wisdom often comes with age but not always, and we as a clinic will try to educate the patient on the future loss that is likely and that they are probably at the beginning of their hair loss journey that will continue for years and to varying degrees also.

Nowadays there are options open that were not there in previous years and medication for some is the best option or at least for a good few years before committing to surgery. If the patient is against medication per se then they can also look into natural or supplemental options for DHT blocking also but whatever the method it is important not to jump into surgery just because it is possible, they need to look at if it is right for them with their loss and age and circumstances they have.

Some say to me that they don't care about future loss or even how they will look when they hit 40, they just want to look good and enjoy youth in the now. I have hit this and a good while ago and I still care how I look, so the perception is often very wrong that at "middle age" we stop caring.

A responsible clinic will not just do what is asked but seek to guide the patient to what is best for them and take into account the longevity of any work done. I certainly am glad I never had surgery at the first signs of loss but had the insight to wait and see where my loss was going and if I had enough to get to where I wanted.

A picture often tells a thousand words and the below will give a visual display of how a young man can age to middle and old age and how a transplant at a young age with limited loss would have affected him in later life were he to become an advanced loss sufferer. "

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/BHRClinic/Progressive loss/progressivehairloss.jpg

 

[GoldenMane]

What's more important? To look good in your 20s and 30s? Or to look good in your 40s and 50s?

We will always care about our appearance and hair, nobody is saying that when we hit 40 we will stop caring, What most of will admit though, is that your 20s and 30s are the most important time, when you make your friends, date, start your career, find your life partner. That's the time when we need our looks and confidence the most, anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Should a young man let his 20s and 30s go, lacking self confidence, hating what they see in the mirror because they might regret it and have to shave their heads or get a system (or possibly histogen/replicel) in their 40s or 50s? Hell no!

People should do what they need to do to look their best when they're young, when their looks and confidence matter most.

If you're 40 or 50, already married, had kids, have a career, then you've already made it. You're not chasing 20 something girls who will reject you because of male pattern baldness anymore, you're probably not applying for many jobs. Yeah you still care about your looks, but not as much as a 25 year old NW3 who's life is literally being ruined by male pattern baldness.

 

[Roberto_72]

People should do what they need to do to look their best when they're young, when their looks and confidence matter most.

If you're 40 or 50, already married, had kids, have a career, then you've already made it. You're not chasing 20 something girls who will reject you because of male pattern baldness anymore, you're probably not applying for many jobs. Yeah you still care about your looks, but not as much as a 25 year old NW3 who's life is literally being ruined by male pattern baldness.

I am 44 and can tell you you're only partially right, based on my experience.

At 40/50 it's true that looks are less important than at 18 or 30 (or 39 for that matter).

There is however a factor you're not taking into consideration: at 40/50, you want to be able to go to work (or to a date!) with hair that does not look ridiculous, especially taking into account that, if you did a FUT, you can't shave it anymore. You don't want to pick up a 20 years old girl at a disco, but you don't want to be the guy who has weird hair in a professional setting.

When you move your follicles from back to top of head, you're decreasing their "shelf life". The hair will resist to DHT for, say, 20 years rather than 40.

When transplanted hair begins to fall, you may want to have a "reserve" to still use.
Also, transplants should not be focused on hairlines: you might find yourself with a giant hole behind it when you age.
You don't want to look ridiculous regardless of age; let me add: especially because of your age.

 

[Dench57]

Damn, look at how rekt he gets from 24-27. Aged about 15 years. Quite interesting that he had completely full head at 24 and then cue ball at 40. I like to think I have the same pattern as my Dad, who is probably NW4 frontal receded at 55, and his hair hasn't moved much since his 40s, but I guess one day I could start diffusing and lose it all.

Agree with GoldenMane though, I'll most likely be taking the risk and getting a frontal hair transplant in my 20s. Risky and irresponsible it may be, but I'm well aware of this and the pros outweigh the cons. In the absolute worst case scenario, that there's still no treatment out in 10-15 years and you suddenly lose all your hair apart from the front, I'd just have to buzz and SMP or hairpiece it. I'm sure there would be big advances for hairpieces too. At least I will have got a few good years in my 20s and early 30s.

 

[jd_uk]

I am 44 and can tell you you're only partially right, based on my experience.

At 40/50 it's true that looks are less important than at 18 or 30 (or 39 for that matter).

There is however a factor you're not taking into consideration: at 40/50, you want to be able to go to work (or to a date!) with hair that does not look ridiculous, especially taking into account that, if you did a FUT, you can't shave it anymore. You don't want to pick up a 20 years old girl at a disco, but you don't want to be the guy who has weird hair in a professional setting.

When you move your follicles from back to top of head, you're decreasing their "shelf life". The hair will resist to DHT for, say, 20 years rather than 40.

When transplanted hair begins to fall, you may want to have a "reserve" to still use.
Also, transplants should not be focused on hairlines: you might find yourself with a giant hole behind it when you age.
You don't want to look ridiculous regardless of age; let me add: especially because of your age.

Is this true (about transplanted hairs becoming less DHT resistant?) If so i never knew it..I always thought 'permanent hair would likely be permanent. Do you have any sources?

Thanks

 

[Roberto_72]

Is this true (about transplanted hairs becoming less DHT resistant?) If so i never knew it..I always thought 'permanent hair would likely be permanent. Do you have any sources?

Thanks

TBH I read about this phenomenon in another thread in this very forum. Allow me searching again. It said that it was studied that hair follicles begin to be at least a bit more prone to DHT when moved from back to top, because the skin at the top is different than the skin at the back of the head. It scared me as well. Maybe my example and numbers were exaggerated. I do hope I was wrong (or the poster was).

But, apart from that, there is another thing to consider: also donor area hair is (in smaller proportions) subject to DHT fall. If you take all the possible "donor" hair at 20, you have more chances of picking donor hair that is subject to DHT. If you take half at 20 and half at 40/50, at 40/50 you pick fewer "faulty" hair because the "faulty" hair has possibly already fallen out and chances are you "harvest" a higher percentage of more resistant hair.

 

[deniak]

Well, you can fuk up yourself if youre unlucky. One of my biggest hair transplant fears is super fast receding hairline leaving transplanted hairs behind. Vin Diesel in first Fast and Furious is best example - razor shaved, but patch of naked skin still visible. In movie its looks 100x sh!ttier than in photo.

Also statement "older dont give a fuk" is false. If you care now, you will care about leftovers of your hairs being 50 or 60. Guys who really DGAF just shaves their hair instantly when they notice balding and move on with their lifes.
Whats more, social dynamics is changing, more and more divorces, more and more older people trying to live life to the full. If, for example, you will be 50 and divorced, that will be your MOST IMPORTANT TIME and you dont want to be outed /depressed because suddenly you realise that your hairs looks ridiculous.

 

[GoldenMane]

As Dench said, shave and SMP is always an option of you don't want to look ridiculous in old age. In fact if you're going bald anyway then you're going to shave anyway, but at least you get to look decent in your youth, so that argument is moot.

Wouldn't you kick yourself if a cure was available in 15 years, and you spent your 20s and 30s unhappy with diminished dating prospects because of your hair? You only live once man, and youth doesn't last forever. Time to make some hay, and we need our looks for that.

 

[shookwun]

I would just get plastic surgery if having a shaved head was that much of a concern.

I find the ears are the most important feature for pulling off the look.

 

[kj6723]

I posted a link to this recently but it was deleted by a moderator because it was written on anothee forum. Instead i've copied and pasted the text and image because I think it is quite important people are aware of the risks of having an early hair transplant procedure.

"Like most clinics, we get our fair share of patients who wish for surgery at a relatively young age. Often the loss is minimal but devastating and the first thing they want to do is "fix it" and regain what was lost and hope to carry on as before the loss was evident.

Wisdom often comes with age but not always, and we as a clinic will try to educate the patient on the future loss that is likely and that they are probably at the beginning of their hair loss journey that will continue for years and to varying degrees also.

Nowadays there are options open that were not there in previous years and medication for some is the best option or at least for a good few years before committing to surgery. If the patient is against medication per se then they can also look into natural or supplemental options for DHT blocking also but whatever the method it is important not to jump into surgery just because it is possible, they need to look at if it is right for them with their loss and age and circumstances they have.

Some say to me that they don't care about future loss or even how they will look when they hit 40, they just want to look good and enjoy youth in the now. I have hit this and a good while ago and I still care how I look, so the perception is often very wrong that at "middle age" we stop caring.

A responsible clinic will not just do what is asked but seek to guide the patient to what is best for them and take into account the longevity of any work done. I certainly am glad I never had surgery at the first signs of loss but had the insight to wait and see where my loss was going and if I had enough to get to where I wanted.

A picture often tells a thousand words and the below will give a visual display of how a young man can age to middle and old age and how a transplant at a young age with limited loss would have affected him in later life were he to become an advanced loss sufferer. "

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t23/BHRClinic/Progressive%20loss/progressivehairloss.jpg

What's more important? To look good in your 20s and 30s? Or to look good in your 40s and 50s?

We will always care about our appearance and hair, nobody is saying that when we hit 40 we will stop caring, What most of will admit though, is that your 20s and 30s are the most important time, when you make your friends, date, start your career, find your life partner. That's the time when we need our looks and confidence the most, anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Should a young man let his 20s and 30s go, lacking self confidence, hating what they see in the mirror because they might regret it and have to shave their heads or get a system (or possibly histogen/replicel) in their 40s or 50s? Hell no!

People should do what they need to do to look their best when they're young, when their looks and confidence matter most.

If you're 40 or 50, already married, had kids, have a career, then you've already made it. You're not chasing 20 something girls who will reject you because of male pattern baldness anymore, you're probably not applying for many jobs. Yeah you still care about your looks, but not as much as a 25 year old NW3 who's life is literally being ruined by male pattern baldness.

I think there's some merit to both these views. Those pictures assume the dude had no update transplants, and also that he either wasn't on/didn't respond to medication. With the options available now, whether transplant or meds, there are definite risks involved, but for someone who finds his hairloss is significantly impacting the way he lives his life(with myself, it's on my mind a significant amount of the time), I'd say inaction is just as poor a choice as an ill-advised transplant. Either way, a measure of patience needs to be involved. I'd say the best a person can do is hop on finasteride/min for 1-2 years, see how he responds, try and figure out which male relatives his hairloss appears to be taking after, and, if he decides to go the transplant route, find a competent surgeon known for his integrity and willingness to be up front with patients about the realism of their expectations.
I.E. take action, but be smart about it

- - - Updated - - -

And if you don't respond to meds, it might be a good idea to wait until you're at least 30-35 to get a transplant, unless you're already nw6+ then you may as well go for it.

 

[jd_uk]

Well, you can fuk up yourself if youre unlucky. One of my biggest hair transplant fears is super fast receding hairline leaving transplanted hairs behind. Vin Diesel in first Fast and Furious is best example - razor shaved, but patch of naked skin still visible. In movie its looks 100x sh!ttier than in photo.

Also statement "older dont give a fuk" is false. If you care now, you will care about leftovers of your hairs being 50 or 60. Guys who really DGAF just shaves their hair instantly when they notice balding and move on with their lifes.
Whats more, social dynamics is changing, more and more divorces, more and more older people trying to live life to the full. If, for example, you will be 50 and divorced, that will be your MOST IMPORTANT TIME and you dont want to be outed /depressed because suddenly you realise that your hairs looks ridiculous.

Don't you mean implanted hairline but nothing behind? Did VD have a hair transplant? I don't think it looks bad on him...nobody would really notice...but if he had paler skin then it would look obvious.

 

[jackaly]

Lol transplanted hairs dont fall out, and it doesnt have anything to do with the skin theyre in. The hairs itself are resistant to dht. Quality thread