a few questions

[soccerguy11]

I'm 21 yrs old and very concerned, depressed re hair loss. I'm sure Propecia could work, but if you look online there are some REALLY bad stories out there, and some doctors still will not prescribe it, saying it is dubious and side effects may be over 1%, plus if you start taking it basically you'll have to keep taking it forever to keep the results it's given you, do I really want to start taking hormone changing drugs at such a young age?

Because of this, I've been considering surgery but few doctors will agree to touch me since I'm young and not on Propecia. Not sure what to do, I have what I guess people called topical diffusing all over the top of the head, and something definately has to
be done.

Should I start with Propecia regardless of the fact that I sortof have a bad feeling about the drug? (the fact that my friend started taking it and couldn't get it up for a week doesn't make me any less worried).

Should I just get surgery now and wait to see what happens? Either way it sucks being one of the only 21 yr olds balding, and I gotta do something.

Another thing: this may sound crazy, but I'm in China studying for the semester, do you think there are any reliable surgeons here? Shanghai is an extremely metropolitan city, maybe I could save a few thousand bucks...just an idea, sorry for the long post

 

[Subliminal]

Just my $0.02. I had the same fear about Finasteride a couple years ago when I started noticing my temple recession. I did the minoxidil thing on and off for about 1.5 years. Looking back, I wish I had started Finasteride immediately. I'm starting to see slow regrowth at the temples, but I much rather have been trying to maintain my hair rather than regrow it.

Life is always about second-guessing. And knowing what I know now -- such as no undesireable side effects from finasteride -- I definately would have started finasteride.

And oh, I wouldn't see a hair transplant Doctor unless you've researched him/her to death by reading testimonials from other patients.

 

[lithebod]

I can only echo subliminals comments above - I was fearful of sides so avoided finasteride for a year - now Im on finasteride I wished I had started that year earlier - no matter what sides or no sides -baldness is inevitable if you dont make a clinical intervention and do something about it - even with surgery the hairs you have currently will still fall out so you will need to top up the surgry or go on finasteride to stop the rest of your hair falling out anyway.

 

[MPBWarrior]

Reasons to start Propecia & not get a transplant at 21

Hey,

Reasons to start on Propecia immediately:

The longer you wait, the more hair will fall out and/or thin, making it harder for you to get that hair back.
Even if you do have symptoms (which are unlikely anyway, no matter what everyone else says), they go away on most people wh contiue using Propecia and on EVERYONE who stops taking it.
Propecia only messes with your DHT levels (only affecting testosterone and other male hormones marginally), and DHT isn´t used by the body in adulthood. Even so, Propecia will still leave some DHT in the body. Just to finish, there are some people who genetically haven´t got the enzyme Alpha-Reductase 5 that converts testosterone to DHT and live perfectly well.

Reasons why you should NOT get a hair transplant at 21:
You don´t know how bald you will get, therefore it might be very likely that you´ll need more and more transplants in the future to stay with a full head of hair - the problem with this is that you need hair transplanted from the donor area in the back of the head and they can only last so long. Therefore wait as long as possible until you´re sure you want to take some of your limited supply of donor hair.
Subliminal is right, only get a transplant with a doctor you´ve done LOTS of research on. Transplants are safe and effective these days, but ONLY with the best doctors!

 

[CCS]

do not get transplants. you are not a canditate. i'm glad so many surgeons are ethical. you are not a candidate even if you are on propecia. surgery is for people with very thin hair, especially people with bare spots, who've been balding at least 3 years. it is for people whose balding is concentrated in one area, particularly the front, though it can be anywhere. diffuse hair loss is ideal for drug treatment. get on minoxidil too.