No two people are the same when it comes to balding. It can take the form of androgenetic or traction alopecia, one being caused by hormonal shifts and the other by constant tension on the hair, e.g., from wearing tight braids, or there may be an environmental or underlying medical issue.
Most importantly, it can sometimes start at a fairly early age and progress quickly, while other times it may appear at a later point in life and be fairly mild. That’s why one of the most frequent questions people ask about hair transplant surgery is when they can get it.
We’ll go over all the key points to determine the optimal time and the best candidates, and see when it might be too early or too late, and why.
What is the Best Age to Get a Hair Transplant?
While some people can have thin hair and start balding at a young age, male pattern baldness typically starts at around the late 20s to early 30s, but it may not be noticeable until the late 30s for some individuals.
For most people, somewhere between 25 and 35 will be a good age for the procedure, but it will all depend on the stage of hair loss and how rapidly it is progressing. There are some good reasons not to get a hair transplant in Turkey earlier, even if you experience thinning in your late teens and early 20s, which we will cover in more detail later.
The Ideal Candidate for a Hair Restoration Procedure
It’s difficult to determine the best age for a hair transplant without a few additional pieces of information. First, you need to know what stage of male or female pattern hair loss you are in. For males, a good candidate is someone in at least stage 3, but preferably 4, on the Norwood scale, and for females, it is stage 2 or 3 and up on the Ludwig scale.
In these cases, there has been enough hair loss to establish a clear pattern of how it is progressing, but still plenty of it is left in the donor area to provide full coverage. Of course, you should always consult an experienced hair transplant specialist at a reputable clinic like Asli Tarcan to get a more precise assessment based on your pictures.
Reasons Not to Get a Hair Transplant Too Young
We’ve mentioned that some people start balding when they are 18 to 20 years old, but it’s not recommended to get a hair transplant too early in life. The reason for this is that it is difficult to predict the precise pattern and the areas that will be affected before the age of 25 or until they reach stages 3 and 4 Norwood.
There are effective treatments you can use in the early stages to prevent further balding or slow down its progress, including pharmaceuticals like Finasteride and Minoxidil, and natural remedies like argan oil. These hair loss medications work on men under 40 who haven’t been balding for longer than five years.
These solutions may not promote any new hair growth in completely bald areas, but they can revitalize existing follicles where the strands have become shorter and thinner.
What Age Is Considered Too Old to Get a Hair Transplant?
The good news is that there is no set age at which a hair transplant procedure would be ineffective, and even older patients with grey hair can have a successful treatment. However, the longer you wait, the more it will progress, at which point you will need a more extensive and, thus, more expensive surgery.
Can Those Who are Completely Bald Get this Procedure?
The extent of the balding is the main factor that can impede a successful hair transplant. At stage 7 Norwood, there simply isn’t enough donor hair left on the back of the head to cover the rest of the scalp.
The surgeon must use the patient’s own hair for a transplant, and the beard and body hair are not a good fit as they don’t look natural on the scalp and have growth phases of different lengths. That’s why people who are completely bald cannot get this procedure.
Which Method is Better: FUE or DHI?
The proper hair loss treatment will depend entirely on the context of your particular situation, as both options have their pros and cons.
Follicular Unit Extraction, FUE
This technique involves extracting hair follicles from the back of the head using a micro punch tool, which are preserved in a petri dish and refrigerated to ensure maximum survivability.
The surgeon then uses a tiny metal blade, or a sapphire one, to create thousands of precise incisions in the bald area, in which they then place the prepared grafts. It is performed under local anaesthesia and can last 5 to 8 hours.
It is best for those with extensive hair loss, stages 5 and above on the Norwood scale, which requires 4000–6000 grafts. It is also the less expensive option.
Direct Hair Extraction, DHI
It starts off the same as FUE hair transplant, only the donor hair is immediately loaded into a Choi Pen, a tool with a syringe-like tip that allows the surgeon to create an opening in the scalp and implant each graft in a single motion.
This technique takes slightly less time and allows the follicles to be placed closer together, leading to a thicker look, but it costs more. In the case of Robotic DHI, the time of the procedure is cut in half. However, it is best for earlier stages of balding that require 2000–4000 grafts, though it can also be performed without shaving the recipient area.
Be Sure to Consult an Expert
As you can see, there is a lot of variability from person to person, so the information provided here is just a starting point to give you a general idea. If you have any questions, it’s best to contact the experienced professionals at Asli Tarcan for an assessment.