What Percentage of Men in Their Mid-20s Are Transplant Candidates?
Dr. Rassman,
I am 25 yrs old and I have a receding hairline. I understand that you can’t tell me whether I’m a candidate without seeing me, but can you tell me what percentage of men my age are candidates for a hair transplant? Also, what characteristics make these men candidates?
Assuming that you do not have a maturing hairline, then your candidacy for a hair transplant relates to how much the hair loss bothers you. Hair transplants are a cosmetic surgical procedure and are completely elective. I always tell my patients that if their hair loss does not bother them, do not consider hair transplant. If you are genetically balding, then drugs like Propecia (finasteride) will stop or slow the hair loss.
As to percentages of balding men at age 25, I would have to guess that some balding may be present in 10-25% of men at your age. Men over 45 years old have a 50% chance of showing some balding.
I’ve always wondered where the 50 % stat comes from because just walking around it looks like more like 80-85 % of men over 45 have noticeable balding (not just a mature hairline).