The best way to prevent hair loss is to catch it as early as possible. With information widely available on the internet, we’re getting more patients coming to us earlier in their loss. This is great news – since there’s more options available to treat hair loss the sooner the symptoms are recognized.
If you’re one of the growing number of individuals who have caught their hair loss early, you may be wondering when the right time to consider a hair transplant is. The timing of hair transplantation depends on a variety of factors such as age, stage of hair loss, family history of hair loss, cause of hair loss, and so on.
Below, we break a few of the most common contributors to determining your candidacy for hair transplantation to help you figure out the best time to start investing in your hair.
Age
It is not uncommon for individuals to begin noticing signs of hair loss in their early 20s. For these patients, we begin with exploring what we call medical maintenance options. Examples include laser treatment, PRP therapy, prescription medications, and over-the-counter hair loss solutions which can help protect the current hair, ward of future loss, and even reverse hair loss if its recent. We go to these routes first because starting a patient on hair transplantation at such an early age can cause them to have to get multiple surgeries through out their life to maintain their desired look, costing them lots of money and jeopardizing the health of their donor area.
Stage of hair loss
If hair loss is in its beginning stages, it may not be time for a hair transplant just yet. Hair transplantation is most effective in those patients who are in more progressive stages of hair loss. Those in early stages have many options for hair restoration outside of hair transplantation.
Cause of hair loss
There are many causes of hair loss. While the most common is age and genetics, side effects of medications or diseases are pretty common as well. If it is suspected that a medication or disease may be causing your hair loss, it is best to explore this cause more. In some cases, simply changing medications or treating a disease can eliminate the hair loss.
So, when is the right time for surgery? To determine the best time for hair transplantation it is best to meet with an experienced hair restoration surgeon who can do a full analysis of your hair loss and explore all of your options with you. If you’d like to find out if you’re a candidate, give us a call today.