Is 20 too young?

[yeahbuddy18]

My confidence is shot to hell! I accepted the fact that I was going bald at one point but about two weeks ago I got my hair cut and it looked awful and made it clear I was going bald. I cried that night, I mean I am only 20 and this shouldn't be happening to me this young. So iv'e been exploring the option of hair transplants but am I currently too young?

[gmonasco]

Q: Are you too young?

A: In general, people in their early twenties are too young to have hair transplants done. Most doctors would advise patients against getting a hair transplant until they are at least in their mid- to late- twenties, when their hair loss has somewhat stabilized. Male pattern baldness tends to progress very rapidly when someone is in his twenties, and it would be unwise to waste precious donor hair until you can reasonably predict the future progression of your hair loss. If you had hair transplant done at a very young age, you might find yourself in a very awkward situation should your hair loss continues to progress further after the hair transplant surgery.

[gillenator]

I totally agree. And once you start HTs at an early age, you will be committed to doing more in the future.

Most docs will want to see how a younger male will respond to effective hairloss meds like Propecia (finasteride). Losing that much hair at 20 or even younger is an indication that the patient is headed for the advanced classes of hairloss.

If the patient does not respond favorably, then starting HTs could potentially advance the rate of loss and there's not enough donor to go around.