The mirror revealed all Seth Garon needed to know about his future -- there would be no encore for the full head of hair he enjoyed as a guitarist in a rock band.

"In my late 20s, I started losing hair," Garon said. "I was looking in the mirror and saw my father looking back at me."

Top Plastic Surgeries | Cost Of Replacement

Garon is one of the estimated 35 million men in the United States affected by male pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia. By age 35, two-thirds of men in the United States will have some degree of appreciable hair loss, according to the American Hair Loss Association.

"It made me confront aging, and I was not happy with that prospect,” said Garon, who had quit music for a job at an advertising agency in Portland.

Garon's reaction to hair loss, which is usually caused by genetics, is common among young adults who are entering the workforce. Seventy-seven percent said they would be "somewhat concerned" if they were experiencing hair loss in their 20s and just starting their career, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery.

Drugs To Fix Your Head

Garon tried Rogaine, a drug applied to the thinning area to revitalize hair follicles. Rogaine and Propecia, a medication taken orally, are the only non-surgical formulas for hair loss approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Propecia is available by prescription and was originally developed to treat enlarged prostates. It can reduce an enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, a chemical involved in the loss of hair.

It is important that treatments of either drug begin in the early stages of hair loss, according to the American Hair Loss Association.

Surgery Can Be Hairy Experience

Not satisfied with the drug's results, Garon considered surgery. Selecting a surgeon and researching surgical procedures can be a hair-raising task.

"It's absolutely treacherous out there," said Spencer Kobren, a consumer advocate who founded the American Hair Loss Association and the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons. "If you're 21 years old and you have a receding hairline, you start to live as an older man. The first decision made about that is very important."

Kobren, author of "The Bald Truth" and host of a radio show by the same name, said surgery should be a last resort, and that it should only be done after extensive research. AmericanHairLoss.org and IAHRS.org offer resources for finding a surgeon and other information about hair loss.

"You're completely vulnerable," said Kobren. "There is no regulation in this industry. Companies have the means to buy the public's opinion."

Kobren warned against believing everything posted in the many online discussion forums regarding hair loss and surgical options.

"They're easily corrupted," Kobren said. "Some have doctors and staff members claiming to be patients on the forum."

Corrective Surgeries

Dr. William Rassman, founder of the New Hair Institute, has seen the results of misguided choices. Nearly half of the surgeries performed by the NHI involve some type of corrective procedure.

"You need a good, honest doctor, which can be difficult," said Rassman. "Watch out for somebody trying to rush a deal on you, anybody who puts pressure on you (or) uses a salesmen as a front end. Never sign up with a doctor you haven't spent extensive periods of time talking with."

Rassman suggested speaking with other patients and refusing to accept before-and-after pictures as representive of what every patient can expect from a procedure.

"You need to find somebody who looked like you look today," he said. "Take a look at what he looks like now, and that sets expectations."

A patient's future hair loss also must be considered. Performing surgery before a balding pattern stabilizes can lead to problems as the hair continues to change.

How Surgery Works

Garon opted for a follicular unit transplantation (FUT), one of the most common surgical hair restoration procedures. In a technique called single-strip harvesting, a strip of skin was removed from the donor area in the back of the scalp. The donor area is then sutured together, and follicular units -- tiny bundles of hair -- were removed from the donor strip.

The follicular units were transplanted into the bald area. The procedure was done with an anesthetic applied to the scalp.

"It took a few months for the follicles to start growing hair, so it grows in slowly," Garon said. "Some guys see that as a plus, because it's not a dramatic change."

A more recently developed surgical option is follicular unit extraction. The process involves the removal of individual hair follicles, without a linear scalp incision. The patient is left without the scar caused by single-strip harvesting.

"The strip is still the standard," said Rassman. "FUE is extremely difficult to do. Few can pull it off well, and some despise doing it because it's amazingly tedious. You can't do as big a session as you can with a strip. Clearly, the strip is more efficient and cost effective."

The procedures' success depends on how many of the transplanted follicles remain healthy. If done correctly, the patient can obtain a natural look without the "row of corn" or "plugged" look common during the early days of hair transplantation.

Risks involved with hair transplants include scarring, excessive bleeding, infection and the death of hair follicles. When a follicle does not survive, the transplanted hair will fall out of the scalp and no new hair will grow.

More Extensive Surgeries

More invasive forms of surgery include scalp reduction and flaps. A scalp reduction involves removing the bald area of the scalp and stretching the skin so that areas with hair can be sewn together in its place.

A flap involves moving an area with hair from the side or back of the scalp to the bald area. One side of the flap remains attached to the scalp as it is rotated into place.

It is a complicated surgery.

"It's a bigger procedure than transplants," said Dr. Richard Fleming of the Beverly Hills Institute of Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery. "It evolved through reconstructive work."

Happy With Results

Depending on the type of surgery, most patients can return to work the day after the procedure. The doctor will provide special instructions on how to care for the hair.

Garon said he was pleased with the results of his surgery but urged prospective patients to research their options.

"I'm very happy with the results, but it's a process I wasn't prepared for," Garon said a few months after the procedure. "There was a bunch of stuff I was not prepared for mentally and more involved than I expected."

Garon was talking about the treatment his scalp required after the surgery. He was told to sleep sitting up for three nights. He used a special shampoo and gentle touch when cleaning the area. Garon said he used a cold compress to alleviate an itchy scalp that "felt like it had whiskers poking through it."

"It's a delicate time, and you have to be careful about how you treat the scalp," Garon added.

What Does It Cost?

Kobren added that a prospective patient also must analyze the cost of a procedure. Sessions usually are priced per graft transplanted. Prices typically range from $3 to $8 per graft.

In Garon's case, surgeons did about 1,800 transplants at $7 per follicle, for a total cost of about $12,000. Depending on the patient's expectations and goals, prices usually range between $4,000 and $15,000.

"I think hair transplants, for the right candidate, can be an incredible procedure," Kobren said. "It can change person's life, but you have to be aware of what (you're) getting involved in. If you go to the right doctor with the right staff, you can get great transplant."

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