What is The Perfect Age For a Hair Transplant?

Finding clumps of hair in your brush may cause you to panic and immediately start researching how to make it grow back, or possibly even look into a hair transplant. It’s fairly common for people to start losing their hair in their 20’s but there is no reason to immediately freak out. Those first signs of hair loss can be painful to discover, and you might start imagining that small bald spot on the top of your head growing bigger and bigger. Most hair loss is genetic so if you take a look at your family history, you should get a sense of what your head may look like at a certain point in your life.

It’s only natural that many people in their 20’s and 30’s seek out the services of a hair transplant doctor. It’s a scary feeling to see your hair begin to fall out when you’re still in the prime of your life. Although nobody likes to see their hair falling out, it can be especially traumatizing when it happens at such a young age.

Even though technology in medicine is improving daily, it can’t be used to stop time or reverse the effects of aging. Time is the biggest enemy when it comes to hair loss, and that’s why there are hair transplant specialists that have dedicated their lives to treat hair loss.

But don’t run out to the doctor at the first sight of hair in the sink at your college dorm. If you’re very young, you may want to wait before moving forward with any sort of hair transplant surgery.

Hair transplant specialists recommend that the ideal age for a transplant is somewhere in your 30’s. By the time you’re 30, your pattern of baldness (or thinning) has emerged and doctors can recommend the right treatment or transplant based on the pattern or severity. If you undergo a procedure too early, you will inevitably lose more hair and you may require another procedure to fill in gaps that may have appeared after the initial procedure.

It’s similar to getting braces. You wouldn’t straighten your baby teeth just to watch them all fall out and have to repeat the entire process again with your adult teeth.

Hair Transplant Process

Prior to getting into the reasons why a hair transplant isn’t ideal for younger people, you need to understand the mechanics behind hair transplants. Surgeons usually take hair from the back of your head and then place them strategically in the area that is balding.

It’s impossible for surgeons to take donor hair from a friend or family member and transplant them onto your head, so the transplanted hairs must be your own. The reason surgeons use hairs from the back of your head is because the hair is more resistant to the hormones that cause baldness and when transplanted will continue to grow naturally as time goes by in their new location.

Disadvantages of an early hair transplant

Skilled Hair transplant surgeons are very good at meticulously excising the best donor hairs and designing your graft sites. However, there is one thing they cannot control and that is time. Hair loss usually starts around age 20, but will continue until about age 60. It’s impossible for surgeons to know the exact balding pattern you’re going to have in the future.

If you get a hair transplant in your 20’s, the surgeon will place resistant follicles in the balding areas, but the hair behind it will eventually recede. While the transplanted hair will flourish, the end result will be a noticeable patch of strong hair (the transplanted area) with thinning/balding spots all around it. This creates a very unnatural appearance.

Another concern is that some people in life are just destined to be completely bald. In this case, there only so much that can be done. You can never borrow enough hair from the back of your head (or body) to replace all that is lost on top of your head, even if you have a good donor supply. By getting the procedure done in your 20’s, one’s expectations are higher and possibly unreasonable because your genetics will always prevail. That is not to say that mature men with Norwood pattern 6 or 7 haven’t been very satisfied with their hair transplant. A natural restored frontal hairline frames the face and provides more grooming options and can be vital to one’s appearance and self image. But this is obviously not the same as the hair you had at age 18. Expectations at age 40 or 50 are different than at age 20 and the best surgeons will help you understand both the possibilities and limitations of hair transplant

Solutions for Early Hair Loss

If getting a hair transplant in your 20’s is not a good idea, then what can I do to help my thinning hair line?

Fortunately, there are several things hair restoration experts recommend that you do when you start noticing your hair thinning out.

The first and most obvious is to make an appointment with a hair restoration specialist. During your consultation, they will ask you questions about your family history, medical history, and hair grooming practices in order to better understand your individual hair loss needs.

They will then make recommendations based on this information and your current level of hair loss. The doctor may recommend one of the many hair growth therapies available, as well as various medicinal shampoos or foams that you can be used.

Here are just a few of the medical therapies available for both men and women to help stop or slow down hair loss if a hair transplant isn’t an option:

PRP

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is when platelets are extracted from your body and injected into the problem area in order to stimulate hair growth. This is a non-surgical therapeutic option for those who cannot or do not want to undergo a surgical hair transplant.

Low-Level Laser Light Therapy

Low-level laser and LED lights are used to stimulate hair growth for people who suffer from pattern balding. This procedure uses light waves generated from a special helmet that you wear on your head for a short time, 2-3 days per week. These light waves have been shown to help stimulate hair growth.

Minoxidil /Finasteride

These are the FDA approved therapies available for men. Treatment results are visible as early as 3-6 months, but full results can take up to 2 years and is intended to slow further loss and regrow miniaturized hair. These therapies have a wide range of advantages and during your consultation; the surgeon will let you know which one is best for your particular situation.

Biotin / Viviscal / Nutrafol

These vitamins and supplements may help the strength of your hair and provide fuller growth.

Hair Restoration Experts in San Antonio

No matter what age you are, if you are experiencing hair loss, schedule a consultation with the experts at Limmer Hair Transplant Center. Our surgeons are the foremost experts on hair loss and what can be done to help those people who may be too young for a transplant, but wish to stop or slow the hair loss they’re currently experiencing.