If you’ve been to an amusement park (or even a local birthday party at a place with a giant mouse specializing in cheese pizza), you’ll know that you can be too small or too large for specific rides or activities. You can be too young to get a driver’s license, too young to vote, too young to drink. You can even be too young to receive a hair transplant. All of those restrictions are usually for your own good.
Age restrictions in our world are usually in place because we’ve learned through experience that certain problems arise when we let everyone in on the fun too soon. The lessons we’ve come away with are that it’s usually better to place an age restriction on certain things like R-rated movies, alcohol consumption, voting, etc.
Without age restrictions, many activities have been shown to do more harm than good. And we associate age with maturity and development. For example, what do 11-year-old children truly know about the world that qualifies them for voting in politics? They need more education and life experience to be a true contributor in this manner, and that kind of responsibility is too much for someone at this age.
When it comes to your thinning hair, an expert may advise you that your exact age doesn’t matter. But he may recommend that you wait if your hairline hasn’t finished developing. In other words, it’s not really your age that’s the problem; it may just be too early for the transplant because your hair loss has not yet stabilized. In this case, he’ll advise you when to return again in the near future for another look.
But can you be too old?
That’s a great question, and the answer is that there really is no upper age limit. Just like when the doctor said you may be too young for a hair transplant because the hairline hasn’t fully matured yet, he may just want to check an older person to see if the transplant will be successful based on other factors.
Overall Health
The single most important factor to check is overall health. Every surgical procedure requires the patient to be in good health before beginning. Hair transplant surgery is no different. Patients over 45 years old must have an ECG to confirm the health of their heart and identify any pre-existing medical conditions that may affect the success of the surgery. Therefore, age alone is not an issue if you are in good health.
Underlying Medical Conditions
Underlying medical conditions sometimes trigger hair loss. To rule them out, Dr. Williams performs several tests. One of them is a blood test that might uncover these hidden illnesses. The other is a pull test, which shows the extent of the shedding process. He also performs a scalp biopsy, during which he plucks some hair and skin samples from your scalp for further analysis. The final examination is the light microscopy test, which examines trimmed hairs to identify any disorders with their shafts.
If any issues are discovered, he will recommend more specialized tests or treatment of the underlying condition first. Generally, this procedure is not desirable if you have certain complications, including diabetes, liver failure, hemophilia, and blood-borne illnesses such as Hepatitis and HIV.
Cause of Hair Loss
If the cause of hair loss is stress-related, you cannot get a transplant because the loss is not permanent. It’s not too late to get a hair transplant as long as the hair loss is permanent, irrespective of its cause.
Hair Density and Donor Availability
Your donor area needs to be healthy and have enough density for a hair transplant to work. The donor hair is the hair at the side and back of your scalp. Good donor hair density increases the likelihood of success and natural-looking results.
So how can I become the best candidate for hair transplantation?
Increase overall blood flow – If you lead a sedentary lifestyle, be sure to get more exercise in, which will get the blood pumping and improve your general health.
Reduce stress – This alone can improve blood flow as well, but reducing stress also lowers the likelihood of thinning in the first place.
Don’t wait for a consultation – Gather information and advice from a professional now instead of waiting until you think you’re ready. You may need time for the hairline to stabilize, time to save funds, and time to plan the whole thing out, so seeing him sooner rather than later is the best route.
Even though we don’t recommend hair transplant surgery at a young age, we also advise against waiting too long. If the balding spreads across a large part of your scalp, the procedure could be costlier and more demanding. The same is true if you have low hair density because chances are you won’t have a reliable donor area. During your examination, Dr. Williams will determine whether it will produce enough follicles to provide natural-looking results.
Statistics show that about 66% of men are either completely bald or have a visible balding pattern by age 60. There’s no shame in that; it’s just nature and genetics. And you’re not too old to start looking the way you want to look. Hair restoration is a great confidence booster and can turn the clock back decades. Come see us today.
