Is My Son Too Young For Transplant at 19?

Dr. Rassman,

My son is 19 and has always had a lot of forehead. He seems to have been experiencing a receeding hair line, and I would like to know if he is to young to consider hair transplants? If not is there a concern about having a procedure, and then the hair line receeding even potentially leaving a bare spot between the hair that was transplanted and the natural hair line now receeded?

The problem with a 19 year old is that if genetic balding is the correct diagnosis, the pattern is not predictable. In a 26 year old it will probably be predictable based upon the miniaturization patterns that develop by 26. That addresses your question directly, because if he is transplanted, the new hair will be in front of what is lost in the near term future so that a bare spot will develop and could progress. Worse, the balding pattern could develop to be very advanced so that a very bald person may emerge with a transplanted frontal hairline. These is our worst case problem, better to avoid until all of the information is at hand. A good doctor should map out his hair from miniaturization and then with knowing what is actually happening (assuming he has genetic balding), prescribe the use of Propecia with yearly monitoring of the miniaturization process. This will let you know how well it is being managed. The same applies to the maturing hairline, which must be differentiated from genetic balding.