The Hair Transplantation industry, many times comes across young patients, who are highly interested to proceed with Hair Transplantation.

In general a young patient is identified as any individual under 25 years old. Care must be taken in contacting these cases.

Young patients must know that while they transplant hair on the bαld or thinning areas, the hair loss of their existing native hair will continue and a new thinning area may be created which will require coverage too.

Young patients are divided into 3 main types:

TYPE 1: Ηair loss in temporal areas (Norwood Class 2 or 2A)  

These type of patients start to loose hair on their temples and they are so much worried that want to replace the hair lost.

This is sometimes might not the best solution. Hair loss will continue and by transplanting hair into the temporal areas, it is possible that soon enough the hairline will start receding and the hair behind the transplanted temporal area will start receding too. This can leave the young patient with two patches of hair on the left and right temple.  If this happens then the patient has no other option of proceeding with more surgeries to replace the emptying areas otherwise he will be left with a strange look. It is very important in these cases to examine the present condition of donor and recipient areas and the family history of hair loss of the patient.

This will help to approximately predict the Norwood Scale that he might end up in the future and then a decision can be taken how to proceed. If the patient does not have a predisposition of a high Norwood Scale then we can proceed.

TYPE 2:
• Receding hairline & temporal areas (Norwood Class 3)  

• Receding hairline & temporal areas and crown (Norwood Class 3V)  

• Receding hairline & temporal areas and top (Norwood Class 4 or 4A)  

This type of young patient has already reached the stage of having a feeling of losing his youth. A significant amount of follicular units will be needed to replace these areas which can be around to 3.500 Follicular Units. In this case the family history of hair loss must be examined and to predict the final stage that baldness could reach. Also we need to examine the quality of follicular units in the donor area.

If we determine that this patient is a potential Norwood Class 7 it is better to avoid the Hair Transplant surgery as the donor area may not be enough for covering the potential baldness. If the patient is a potential Norwood Class 5 or 6 then Hair Transplantation is possible provided that the individual will understand the limitations regarding density. If a very high density is used for covering the front and the crown then the future balding areas might not be supported by the donor area for maintaining this high density. So, in this case a more conservative approach should be applied and the patient should settle with an average density to cover his baldness.

Usually young patients have higher expectation as they recently lost their hair and maybe they are not willing to settle with something less. Before proceeding they must have realistic expectations otherwise we can end up with dis – satisfied Patients.

TYPE 3:
• Receding top and crown (Norwood Class 5)

• Receding top, crown and back (Norwood Class 6)

This type of young patient needs a lot of caution. This is the type that will probably end up a high class 7 and a Hair Transplantation may not be recommended. We need to examine carefully the hair loss history from mother and father side and identify whether it has reached the final levels of hair loss or he has potential hair loss in the future. This is what we call hair replacement for the extremely bald and these patients should be aware of their options. They can only replace their hair with a mature hairline, low density and with the help of donor beard hair. Another option is to leave the crown uncovered but still have a natural look.

These cases should be examined individually and advice will be given according to parameters such as:

• final expected stage of hair loss,
• density of the remaining donor,
• quality of follicular units in the donor
• and expectations.

HDC Hair Clinic is very concerned about the correct approach to all its patients and especially the young ones. We are committed to give the correct advice and if necessary, advice patients to avoid surgery if we believe hair transplantation will not be to their best interest.

This is a once in a lifetime decision and HDC wants to ensure you make the right one. For getting an online evaluation of your case, please click here to complete the online evaluation form.

HDC Medical Team