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: [tag]Male pattern baldness[/tag] [tag]MPB[/tag] 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 [tag]hair loss[/tag] 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 [tag]hair transplant[/tag] 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 [tag]bald[/tag] 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 [tag]hair restoration[/tag] 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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