Hair Transplant Surgery for Young Hair Loss Sufferers: Coalition Hair Restoration Physician Dr. Mike Beehner Discusses His Philosophy

The following hair loss article was written by Coalition hair transplant surgeon Dr. Michael Beehner:

It’s important that a hair transplant surgeon approach a 21 year old male a lot different than a 31 year old. There are two major reasons for being conservative and going slow, which includes for most of us – being a little reluctant to perform surgery on men under 23.

Reason #1: Male pattern baldness MPB is progressive throughout a male’s life. You can never look at a man in his 20’s and say you know how far his hair loss will extend. Virtually all Norwood IV’s and V’s go on to become Norwood VI’s, and a sizable percentage of young men with Norwood VI pattern go on to become a Norwood VII with the side fringe located somewhere down the side of the head.

There is a large risk for turning that young man into a freak later in life. This can lead to a reclusive lifestyle, depression, and rarely even to suicidal states. The decision to transplant a young man in his late teens or early 20’s should be taken very seriously. The hair transplant surgeon is making permanent marks on that person’s head that he will have to live with the rest of his life.

Reason #2: Many young men from 18 up to the late 20’s have not really psychologically accepted the fact that they are going to be bald later. Many are very angry about it and feel cheated at this loss of their self-image. At our clinic I have informally adopted a rule to try very hard not to perform hair restoration surgery on anyone under 23.

There have been a handful of exceptions, in which I judged the patient to be mature beyond his years and missing the framing of his face in the front-central portion of the scalp. In such cases I have started the front part of a “forelock” type of pattern in order to restore this “framing.”

Mike Beehner, M.D.
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David (TakingThePlunge)
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

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Technorati Tags: Male pattern baldness, MPB, hair loss, hair transplant, bald, hair restoration