Dr. Marc Dauer - Young Hair Transplant Patients Be Warned!

Spencer Kobren speaks with Los Angeles hair transplant surgeon, and IAHRS accepted member Dr. Marc Dauer about the very real long term consequences of performing aggressive hair transplantation on younger patients.

Everyone under the age of 30 should listen closely to what Dr. Dauer says in this video. Just because we CAN do something when we want to doesn't mean we should. We're moving hair, not making more hair so the law of supply and demand holds true, for now and in the future.

Well said, Dr. Dauer!

Great video - raises a very common yet extremely important point.

It's true for patients who are NW3 at 25 for example.

I was NW5 at 24 when I went for my hair transplant.

And it was life changing, the best choice I've ever made.

I got FUE with no visible scarring, chose a conservative NW2.5 and I can now enjoy a framed face.

Even if I didn't have any other procedure, I would still look natural with a huge bald spot at the back of my head.

You can only be young once. Yes, this choice was a leap of faith somehow, but I couldn't envision a decent life by cruising through my youth with a slick bald head.

I think when it comes to hair loss, solutions are always a case by case scenario. You can't say: all men below the age of 25 shouldn't have a hair transplant!

That didn't apply to my case. Just like you can't say: "All guys should just shave their heads and move on!" Which is the popular advice.

One size fits all advices never work when it comes to hair loss.

Hey guys,

NW2 case here (beginning to recede hairline and thinning of crown, but not noticeable to others yet) What would you recommend that I do as a solutiom??

HI Ian,

The best thing to do is fight the issue by non-surgical means. Medical prevention is the only way to stop your loss as surgery only replaces what has been lost already. Once your medical options are exhausted then and only then should surgery be considered but if you maintain a NW2 status then by all means do not consider surgery at all.

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Originally Posted by JoeTillman

Everyone under the age of 30 should listen closely to what Dr. Dauer says in this video. Just because we CAN do something when we want to doesn't mean we should. We're moving hair, not making more hair so the law of supply and demand holds true, for now and in the future.

Well said, Dr. Dauer!

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It doesn't necessarily matter if you're under 30. What matters is your current state of hair loss, your future predictions of hair loss and your expectations. I had a hair transplant at 32 and it has devastated my life. Why? Because of exactly what this man is trying to clarify. I rapidly lost hair all around the grafts, leaving one area full of transplants and the rest of my head naturally balding. Hair transplants should rarely be used for "touch ups" in the case of men with male pattern baldness, because it is a temporary solution to a permanent and ongoing problem and often the trauma from such surgery can perpetuate the problem.

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Originally Posted by jamesst11

because it is a temporary solution to a permanent and ongoing problem and often the trauma from such surgery can perpetuate the problem.

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This! And it's the case for everyone, no one is safe from hair loss for sure forever.

You could have to stop finasteride for a reason or another, or it could stop working, or you just simply slowly but surely lose ground.

I knew I would need another hair transplant when I had my first one. I'm trying to wait as much time as I can but my crown is almost 70% gone.

When I had a consultation with Bisanga, he told me something like:

"When you do a hair transplant, you only want to do one and be done with it once and for all, don't you think?" Pointing at my NW5 progressing into a NW6.

That is a very utopic statement, people who are suffering from MPB and need a transplant will lose more hair at a point.

I appreciate the candid response and good ethics by the doctor here but it's very depressing nonetheless. I don't want to be the bald guy who suddenly has a full head of hair 18 months later and has to deal with everyone who knows I've undergone a cosmetic procedure for being so vain. I want to hold on with a short haircut and concealer and make it seem like I responded to one of the current "treatments."

I guess I tricked myself into believing I'd be able to get a transplant within a year or so (currently 25) and wait a couple years for the new treatments that are on the precipice that could have a big impact on maintenance going forward. I guess that just isn't realistic though...****

Great video, Thank you for sharing.

I agree completely, if your a high Norwood and don't want to just shave it, what do you really have to lose?

Do men really ever stop loosing there hair to MPB?

I feel like i'm the 'typical' person he's talking about... I'm 26, with NW2.5 - 3. But I feel like my hair loss is stabilised; I've been taking propecia for 3 years and from photo's I have not noticed any further loss, and a year ago I started nizoral and have had even more thickening and new hairs sprouting at the temples since... Is this considered stable enough for a minor hair transplant which will take me from NW2.5 -> NW2?

I am 26 and wanting a hair transplant just like the 'typical' young people he's talking about in this video, but I have been on fin + niz for 3 yrs and feel like I've stabilised. In fact I am still growing new hairs in... It is significantly above baseline. Would it still be realistic for me to consider a transplant to get from NW3 -> NW2

Hi All,

I had had transplant ×2, with no result. I spent about $18,000 dollars. My hair loss is about 3 cm round at the vertex. Now I am going to hair club to try XTrands +, because I know Xtrands does not work. Anybody had any experience about the Xtrands +? Ira

This reminds me of me. I'm about the same age as you (yes I realize this quote is almost 4 years old) and for a while I had that hope that newer effective treatments would go on the market in the near future. But at this point I've become pretty pessimistic about that happening, and I find myself thinking of transplants more and more often. That's what just led me to log in here for the first time in 4+ years and stumble upon this thread and several posts that I could really relate to. I'm not sure what to do at this point. Half of me wants to just give up and let nature take its course, figure out a good hairstyle (or lack thereof) or buzzed look, but I'd really rather not. I'm tired of using Toppik. It's great but it's a lot of work and worry and I don't feel comfortable doing certain things knowing that it might get messed up, which kinda sucks. I just keep waiting it out unsure of what my next move is. I think I need another consultation.