There’s no legal lower age for hair transplant surgery, but there are certain reasons why hair transplants should be done below age 25 with care.
Nowadays, 1 in 5 men suffers from hair loss before they reach their 20s. We have seen typical male pattern baldness of grade 5 or grade 6 at the age of 18, and the donor also appears to be on the verge of being extinct. Male pattern baldness is caused by the male hormone dihydrotestosterone, commonly known as DHT. It stimulates hormone receptors at the roots of the hair, which triggers hair loss. In each successive hair cycle, follicles start to shrink and hair starts to grow thinner than before, and after many cycles, it stops growing.
When people are younger, hair loss traumatises their thoughts, lowers their self-esteem, and forces them to look for treatments like hair transplants. Hair transplant at a younger age is very difficult to tackle as what kind of hair loss and balding pattern he will face in the future is unpredictable, leading to the loss of the donor.
Many patients get hair transplants at an early age in their hairline unless it's stable and they face bald patches later in their mid scalp, vertex, or crown, giving them again a patchy look that looks more uglier than before. The important point to be noted is that donor hair is limited and should be used wisely.
If you are having a hair transplant at a younger age and the donor is being utilized, you won’t have the option of a donor again available in the future. If one is facing hair loss at 25, they are more likely to have extensive hair loss in the future.
One should not see hair transplant as first option in his early 20's -25's. He should rather be keen to stabilise his progressive male pattern baldness along with his lifestyle modifications, DHT blockers, minoxidil, PRP, etc. After stabilizing, and at an advanced age, he can go for a hair transplant so that the life of the hair transplant is also improved.
It is always advisable to meet with a hair transplant doctor who can give honest advice on the right age, appropriate donor, etc. Through correct medication or alternative therapies, it is always possible to achieve great results without a hair transplant in our New Roots Hair Clinic. We take family history into account when a patient comes to us at an early age so that we can suggest to him appropriate treatments depending upon his future condition of baldness. It's also vital that the ideal hairline, depending upon the age, is taken into consideration and the amount of grafts to be taken into account, as one should wisely see that he can make grafts available if required in the future.
