Question: 

I hate losing hair.  I find more hair on my pillow each morning than the day before.  When do you recommend that I get a hair transplant, early in the hair loss or later on?  Is there any reason to wait? 

Answer: 

The best time to receive a hair transplantation is when you are completely aware of all the alternatives and risks of the procedure and have been advised by a competent hair transplant surgeon what is the best treatment option in your particular case. 

The advantages of waiting until your hair loss has stabilized is that you know what your future holds.  However, this is really only a relative statement as you cannot predict with absolute certainty what anybody's hair loss pattern will progress to unless they have absolutely no hair in their hairline and the top of their head and therefore cannot lose any more. 

The advantage of waiting until hair loss is stabilized is that you know exactly what you are dealing with.  The disadvantage is that there is more ground to cover.  Also it is more obvious that something has been done when you wait until hair loss is extensive. 

Having said all this, I think the first step is to slow down the progression of hair loss with medical therapy such as Rogaine and Propecia.  Then you can perform hair transplants with some confidence that the hair loss will not progress rapidly; however, the pattern of hair loss and the rate of hair loss differs for each individual. 

Posted by:  Dr. Siporin