Hair Restoration Blog

Q:
I am 24 with a strong family history of hair loss in the male members at and around early 20s. Recently, I started seeing hair in my sink and on the bed that is much lighter my regular hair. Is it normal? Am I balding and can I use a hair transplant to prevent further hair loss.
A:
Male patterned hair loss is characterized with miniaturization of hair shafts before complete losing them. In genetically prone men to male pattern baldness, hairs of an affected area gradually become thinner and thinner, before they ultimately become nonexistent.

Miniaturization hair shafts make them look thinner, because of the smaller size and then the smaller amount of darker pigments that could be seen.

It seems that you started with hair loss phenomenon and you only need to get it diagnosed by a good hair specialist who can also get you started on medication treatment if need be. A miniaturization study can give you some ideas of where you are heading before starting with the medications.

It all has to do with the gene of male pattern baldness and being a man (having testosterone). I call it triangle of baldness. This triangle has three sides:

Question:
I am a 22 year old white male with some recession in the corners that has been bothering me in the last two years. Am I eligible for a hair transplant procedure?

Answer:
I generally don’t recommend hair transplant before the age 24 (with some exceptions). We need to have a better understanding of the pattern of your hair loss before coming up with a surgical plan. If you are destined to become a stage VII (advanced stages of hair loss) the plan should be totally different than if you are going to stop at stage III.

We can usually see the final pattern of baldness by the age of 23 or 24 with a microscopic examination of scalp. We should be able to determine whether or not you are going to stop at stage III or if you are heading to more advanced stages such as VI or VII. We can densely pack the corner areas knowing that the patient had plenty of reserve and is not going to lose much more. But if you are supposed to become severely bald, we should be more conservative in repairing your frontal corners knowing that you are going to need a good portion of your hair for the top and crown areas of your scalp in the future.

If I see the evidences of end stage hair loss at an earlier age, I can more safely plan for hair transplant at that age rather than waiting for a more advanced age since the patient is already showing the signs of sever baldness.