Harley Street HT Clinics
Valued member
An important aspect to successful hair restoration is planning and timing. Understanding what can realistically be achieved now and then prepare long-term for progressive hair loss.
Important Considerations
While these considerations affect both the candidate and doctor, it is the doctor that will determine what they feel is the correct, safe hair restoration plan. Then for the candidate to agree, question or simply disagree with that doctor´s reasoning.
Age is near the top when it comes to importance, as distressing as hair loss can be when younger, it is important to not allow the heart to rule the head. With young men known to be greater risk takers, often looking for the quickest fix, (in their eyes), to the problem, with little to no consideration of the negative consequences, progressive hair loss. Even if future hair loss is minimal, fixing a low permanent hairline, is unlikely to age well. Even by 30 years of age the low hairline is unlikely to complement the maturing facial features, let alone later in life. Consequently, for the younger candidate in the earlier stages of hair loss, the most sensible approach to hair restoration would be to start a hair loss treatment. Possible, Finasteride, Minoxidil, topical or oral, or possibly PRP Therapy or LLLT, laser therapy, or possibly a combination of the options.
Risk of Progressive Hair Loss
It´s reported that around 25% of men notice the initial signs of hair loss in their early twenties, and by age 50, 85% experience thinning or balding, primarily due to male pattern baldness. However, while up to 85% of men suffer a degree of thinning, roughly only 30% to 50% of men exhibit an advanced hair loss pattern by the age of fifty.
The doctor will need to take this into consideration, if hair loss starts in early adulthood, as the hair loss gene is most active throughout the twenties and continues to in the thirties, and to a lesser extent in the forties, by the fifties male pattern hair loss has normally stabilised. The doctor will consider the genetic history of the candidate, and the possibility that hair loss progresses to a high Norwood stage, or more likely to stabilise at a lower stage. Then there are hair loss conditions not suitable to undergo a hair transplant, auto immune conditions, DUPA, and specific scalp disorders.
Goals & Expectations
Goals and expectations will be linked to issues such as age and hair loss pattern, whether the hair restoration doctor feels they are realistic and in your long-term interest. They are trying to balance technical considerations against goals and expectations, this can result in opposing viewpoints, or a compromise somewhere along the decision-making process, commonly whether treatment would be the best option, or if considering a hair transplant the hairline position and shape. Goals can range from wanting to be too aggressive, but also too conservative, poor hairline placement works either way and will not correctly frame the face. Then there are medical issues that can affect how the doctor perceives the hair restoration.
Both OCD and body dysmorphia (BDD) are medical conditions, rather than just personality traits or matters of vanity. When dealing with designing a hair transplant, specifically the hairline will often create complications in what the individual thinks they need to look natural in their eyes, opposed to how a natural hairline must be designed. A hair transplant doctor can refuse and under various medical guidelines should refuse to treat the individual. A hair transplant is an elective cosmetic procedure; doctors have the right to refuse service if they believe the operation will cause psychological or physical harm.
Planning and priorities
The priority must be the risk of progressive hair loss, otherwise the individual will continuously be chasing hair loss. From the hairline to the frontal, to the mid-scalp, to the crown potentially. The doctor may suggest starting hair loss medications for a while before considering a hair transplant, especially a younger candidate, but if hair loss is obviously active, any age, stabilising hair loss is the priority.
Regarding a hair transplant, the doctor will assess what they can safely harvest in the first procedure and then estimate the safe graft count overtime. Good planning will be based on what can safely be achieved, not simply having the priority total restoration on a high Norwood in one procedure. Higher Norwood stages, unless in specific cases when a combo surgery is performed, will take multiple hair transplant procedures to complete. That is also assuming that the individual’s donor hair is plentiful enough to complete total restoration. Pushing the donor to harvest thousands of grafts and complete restoration in one procedure is risking the quality of the result, with the likely ramifications being permanent shock-loss, poor hair growth and excessive scarring and over harvesting throughout the donor region.
Rather than seeing hair transplant and hair loss treatment independent to each other, view them as being complementary to successful hair restoration. Both are a choice, each deliver different benefits.
Structured planning ensures that the correct approach to hair restoration is set out to complement the individual´s point at the time, such as age, health, lifestyle, current and potential future hair loss pattern. While goals and expectation are important and considered, the hair restoration doctor´s primary concern is which option is the safest and appropriate at any given time. On the occasion a candidate´s expectations cannot be met, are not realistic or not correct for that timeline, the hair restoration doctor must explain their reasoning for not wishing to treat that person.
From the hair restoration candidate’s viewpoint, when deciding which path you wish to take, it´s important to try and remove emotion from the decision-making process, better to approach this with pragmatism rather than take a risk, ask any repair patient. Rather than convince yourself that “x” approach is correct because it meets your ideal goals and expectations, approach your hair restoration from the point of view, if it all sounds too good to be true, it probably is. With careful planning it is possible to manage your hair restoration to achieve the best long-term result.
Important Considerations
While these considerations affect both the candidate and doctor, it is the doctor that will determine what they feel is the correct, safe hair restoration plan. Then for the candidate to agree, question or simply disagree with that doctor´s reasoning.
- Age
- Risk of progressive hair loss, genetic patterning
- Goals & Expectations
- Planning and priorities?
Age is near the top when it comes to importance, as distressing as hair loss can be when younger, it is important to not allow the heart to rule the head. With young men known to be greater risk takers, often looking for the quickest fix, (in their eyes), to the problem, with little to no consideration of the negative consequences, progressive hair loss. Even if future hair loss is minimal, fixing a low permanent hairline, is unlikely to age well. Even by 30 years of age the low hairline is unlikely to complement the maturing facial features, let alone later in life. Consequently, for the younger candidate in the earlier stages of hair loss, the most sensible approach to hair restoration would be to start a hair loss treatment. Possible, Finasteride, Minoxidil, topical or oral, or possibly PRP Therapy or LLLT, laser therapy, or possibly a combination of the options.
Risk of Progressive Hair Loss
It´s reported that around 25% of men notice the initial signs of hair loss in their early twenties, and by age 50, 85% experience thinning or balding, primarily due to male pattern baldness. However, while up to 85% of men suffer a degree of thinning, roughly only 30% to 50% of men exhibit an advanced hair loss pattern by the age of fifty.
The doctor will need to take this into consideration, if hair loss starts in early adulthood, as the hair loss gene is most active throughout the twenties and continues to in the thirties, and to a lesser extent in the forties, by the fifties male pattern hair loss has normally stabilised. The doctor will consider the genetic history of the candidate, and the possibility that hair loss progresses to a high Norwood stage, or more likely to stabilise at a lower stage. Then there are hair loss conditions not suitable to undergo a hair transplant, auto immune conditions, DUPA, and specific scalp disorders.
Goals & Expectations
Goals and expectations will be linked to issues such as age and hair loss pattern, whether the hair restoration doctor feels they are realistic and in your long-term interest. They are trying to balance technical considerations against goals and expectations, this can result in opposing viewpoints, or a compromise somewhere along the decision-making process, commonly whether treatment would be the best option, or if considering a hair transplant the hairline position and shape. Goals can range from wanting to be too aggressive, but also too conservative, poor hairline placement works either way and will not correctly frame the face. Then there are medical issues that can affect how the doctor perceives the hair restoration.
Both OCD and body dysmorphia (BDD) are medical conditions, rather than just personality traits or matters of vanity. When dealing with designing a hair transplant, specifically the hairline will often create complications in what the individual thinks they need to look natural in their eyes, opposed to how a natural hairline must be designed. A hair transplant doctor can refuse and under various medical guidelines should refuse to treat the individual. A hair transplant is an elective cosmetic procedure; doctors have the right to refuse service if they believe the operation will cause psychological or physical harm.
Planning and priorities
The priority must be the risk of progressive hair loss, otherwise the individual will continuously be chasing hair loss. From the hairline to the frontal, to the mid-scalp, to the crown potentially. The doctor may suggest starting hair loss medications for a while before considering a hair transplant, especially a younger candidate, but if hair loss is obviously active, any age, stabilising hair loss is the priority.
Regarding a hair transplant, the doctor will assess what they can safely harvest in the first procedure and then estimate the safe graft count overtime. Good planning will be based on what can safely be achieved, not simply having the priority total restoration on a high Norwood in one procedure. Higher Norwood stages, unless in specific cases when a combo surgery is performed, will take multiple hair transplant procedures to complete. That is also assuming that the individual’s donor hair is plentiful enough to complete total restoration. Pushing the donor to harvest thousands of grafts and complete restoration in one procedure is risking the quality of the result, with the likely ramifications being permanent shock-loss, poor hair growth and excessive scarring and over harvesting throughout the donor region.
Rather than seeing hair transplant and hair loss treatment independent to each other, view them as being complementary to successful hair restoration. Both are a choice, each deliver different benefits.
Structured planning ensures that the correct approach to hair restoration is set out to complement the individual´s point at the time, such as age, health, lifestyle, current and potential future hair loss pattern. While goals and expectation are important and considered, the hair restoration doctor´s primary concern is which option is the safest and appropriate at any given time. On the occasion a candidate´s expectations cannot be met, are not realistic or not correct for that timeline, the hair restoration doctor must explain their reasoning for not wishing to treat that person.
From the hair restoration candidate’s viewpoint, when deciding which path you wish to take, it´s important to try and remove emotion from the decision-making process, better to approach this with pragmatism rather than take a risk, ask any repair patient. Rather than convince yourself that “x” approach is correct because it meets your ideal goals and expectations, approach your hair restoration from the point of view, if it all sounds too good to be true, it probably is. With careful planning it is possible to manage your hair restoration to achieve the best long-term result.
