53 year old male with hair loss

[Rickenbacker53]

Hello, new here. I am 53 years of age. I started receding some when I was 30. Many friends and acquaintances tease me I was going to be a bald guy. I have always had fine very straight hair. To the surprise of all the teasers I have managed to keep most of my hair until about 3 years ago it started reseeding through the temples.

I don't want the look of a 30 year old but would like to thicken it up some. I live in Michigan on the west side of the state and am wondering who best to go to.

I probably could have started this 3 years ago doing minor grafs and been ahead of the game. I didn't because a friend of mine who is quite bald went. They did a good job except that it looks to dark for the rest of his hair.

Maybe I could solve my problem with propecia. My twin brother takes it and doesn't seem to have any thinning at all yet. Although his hair always was thicker.

I need to know what the right thing to do is. Where can I find some honest answers?

[Winston]

If you only started to lose hair visibly about 3 years ago then you should see your family doctor about starting Propecia. You say that you have a twin who does well with it so the chances are high that you will have the same type of results. You’ll read here that it’s not a good idea to have a small amount of grafts done since you can always lose some hair during a hair transplant. It’s really all or nothing, meaning that if need less then a 1000 or so grafts you should hold off. This is definitely the place for honest answers!

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

If your twin brother is having good results using Propecia then there is a good chance that you could have a similar result. You would need to start right away and give it 9-12 months to see if you get results. You may be able to wake up some sleeping hair follicles or reverse some of the miniaturization that is occurring. Either way hair transplantation is not going anywhere. If you do not get the results from Propecia that you are hoping for you could always decide to move forward with a transplant.

[John P. Cole, MD]

hair transplant

Good point! Hair transplants will tend to be darker than the surrounding hair. it also tends to be more coarse. This can create a juxtaposition between natural hair and grafted hair. Therefore, based on your conservative approach, i agree that you should try medications first. Based on my experience, the probabilities with medication are slim, but they are viable. Give it a shot and see what happens. You always have alternative options.

Best of luck!