Age considerations

Hair transplantation in a too early age may be the beginning of a lifelong and costly journey. Young patients require a conservative approach. In many cases Dr. Hussain will recommend young patients to postpone an operation until the age of 30. If that is unacceptable fewer grafts and lower density is recommended.

Age really matters

Technically and practically FUE hair transplantation can be carried out at any age. However, a very conservative approach is strongly advised by Dr Hussain. Some of the reasons are

• Hair loss may not be mature
• It could be the beginning of a lifelong journey with multiple operations in every few years
• A too low hairline may often be desired by the patient which may be unnatural later in life
• Un-realistic expectations

Immature hairloss

Young patients have immature hair loss. For instance, many will have slightly high temples and a receding hairline at age 20-24. If the patient wishes to restore his teenage hairline and density by hair transplantation it could require many thousand grafts for a natural and dense result.

The hair loss will very likely progress. After some years the original hair behind the transplanted hairline could fall causing a very odd appearance with good density in the front and less density behind. If the donor-area and finances allow it, repeated procedures can be carried out to compensate the developing hairloss and 3-5 procedures are not uncommon.

If the patient runs out of donor hair and/or finances he could be stuck with a highly unnatural hair transplantation. Mature hair loss allows for better planning of a long term natural appearance.

What can young patients do about their hair loss?

If alopecia androgenitica is verified Dr. Hussain recommends using Minoxidil 5% and/or Finasteride 1 mg (or ¼ of a 5 mg Proscar tablet which is cheaper). Roughly 50% of the patients may benefit from these medications. Both should be used for six months to access it's effectiveness. If no effect is observed the medicine should be discontinued. Further massaging the scalp should be considered.

If waiting is not an option

Postponing the operation really should be the only option. Many young patients would say that at age 30 they would not care about their looks anyway. Dr. Hussain wishes to make clear that there is NO age where looks do not matter. Many patients come to Dr. Hussain in their 40’s and 50’s even for repeat procedure.

Should waiting be completely unacceptable Dr. Hussain may accept the patient for an operation after an individual assessment of age, hair loss, desired end-result, the patient’s understanding of his situation and his motivation for the operation. A very conservative approached is advised, including a small transplantation, higher hairline and lower density. This is to ensure that the donor-area is preserved as long as possible to account for future hair loss.

This approach does not give a drastic cosmetic change in one go, but rather prevents the patient from reaching a very bald look in a young age. Thus the transplanted hair would really just take the place of falling hair in the time after the surgery.

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If you have any questions about the Shanghai Center for Hair Transplant, or about hair trans-plants, follicular unit grafts, or anything else, please don't hesitate to contact us.

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