When I was recently in Phoenix writing questions for the hair transplant board examination, I had a touching story recounted to me that I wanted to share with you. A fellow hair transplant surgeon had a patient come to him at 59 years of age to ask whether it would be considered too late to have a hair transplant at that age. The surgeon responded that he truly did not think so, and the patient underwent the procedure, with a very happy outcome. At 75 years of age, he said his 50th wedding anniversary was coming up and he noticed that he was thinning further and wanted more hair to make him look good in time for that special event. Clearly, at that point, he did not think he was too old to look good.

On the flip side, I had a 27-year-old gentleman who came to me saying he would only accept a very low straight hairline and if I did not give it to him he would go down the street to the next guy. I explained to him that he would potentially look unnatural at 40 years of age given the nature of his request. He replied that he did not care what he would look like at 40 years old. I declared that at 42 years of age I clearly care what I look like and that he was arguing his perspective from naiveté. Of course, I never operated on him, and I am glad that I did not. I like the expression, “You never regret the patient you did not operate on.”

I like the quote by Jack LaLanne, who recently passed on, who said about exercise, “Inactivity is the killer and, remember, it’s never too late.” He died at 96 years of age and the week before he died he was doing push-ups and sit-ups. It truly is never too late to look your best. However, as my counterpoint to the story, you can be too young for a hair transplant or not be a good candidate for psychological or physical reasons.

Samuel M. Lam, MD, FACS is a board certified hair transplant surgeon in Dallas, Texas. To learn more about Dr Lam’s hair transplant procedures please visit our website hairtx.com or call 972-312-8105 to schedule a consultation.