Hi
@iwe , planning your hair restoration is a key aspect to ensuring your long-term happiness as well as successful hair restoration. Maintaining and possibly improving on your existing hair is important. Your age, hair loss pattern today, the family hair loss pattern you may inherit all need to be considered. Catching your hair loss early can allow you to maintain your hair for many years without the need for a hair transplant. But if your hair loss has progressed to an obvious stage then treatment will still complement a surgical option and combined you can achieve an overall more solid and stable result. You do not want to find yourself in the position of having a hair transplant and chasing future hair loss, needing/wanting small touch up sessions just to keep up the look. It´s not only impractical, costly but not good donor management for your hair.
There are the known FDA approved treatment available that have proven stats for hair loss treatment. Minoxidil, Finasteride, laser therapy. Then there are other therapy treatments such as PRP, as well as popular herbal treatment such as saw palmetto and biotin. You should take the advice of a professional before starting any treatment as they may all have a side-effect that needs to be considered prior to starting, and for example, Finasteride is prescriptive as well. If you search in the hair treatment section on this site you will find a lot of help and ideas.
It´s helpful as said to look at your hair growth pattern and put into perspective what can be expected from a treatment to ensure your expectations are realistic. Whatever you decide to use it´s important to stick at using them and use correctly as advised. Most treatment will take a few months to show any tell tale signs of a positive effect. It may take close to a year with some to feel how well they have helped your condition. It is a good first step in preserving and improving your existing hair prior to considering a permanent solution such as a hair transplant procedure. Hope your research goes well.