When old age catches up with you in your 30s

Wayne Rooney was a football star during his time at Manchester United, accomplishing so much on the field. One of his greatest struggles was hair loss. At only 25, the football icon had started fighting with old age.

Signs of old age start showing as early as when one is 30. By 40, you could develop sun spots, have shallow wrinkles or experience hair loss. While baldness in most men kicks in the 50s, like Wayne Rooney, you could experience it prematurely “due to rare genetic conditions,” says Arshni Malde, an aesthetic doctor at Tia Clinic in Nairobi.

Some people are happy to embrace a new look and the challenges that come with old age but to others, sagging facial lines, deep wrinkles and a receding hairline can be a big blow to their confidence.

“I recommend a non-surgical facelift for people who want to look younger without incurring heavy financial costs,” says Dr Arshni.

As the skin matures, its structure weakens and it loses elasticity and firmness. This 60-minute anti-ageing procedure involves using products called threads that induce collagen in the skin, hence tightening it.

“The treatment works instantly in 70 per cent of patients I treat with the remaining small percentage experiencing full results by the end of two weeks. It will take one and a half to two years before the ageing process starts again at which we only do maintenance,” Arshni says.

The treatment costs an average Sh500,000.

A solution to baldness

Getting a hair transplant is an option if you are getting uncomfortable with a receding hairline. A cosmetic surgeon will remove hair from the back part of your head and place it in the areas with scanty hair.

“Our hair transplant facility offers the latest method of hair restoration known as follicular unit extraction (FUE) which is a one-day or two-day procedure depending on the requirement of each patient,” says Dr Arshni. The procedure takes six to seven hours and is done under local anesthesia, which allows the patient to continue with their normal lifestyle almost immediately.

After the transplant, the patient has to wait for 8 months for hair to grow. To get optimum results, the clinic uses stem cell therapy, the first of its kind in the country, to enhance the treatment.

“Since the regeneration is a slow process, we have introduced three stem cell therapy sessions that start one month after the transplant. Think of it as a fertiliser that enhances hair growth, done only for an hour for three months. With this I can guarantee you hair for at least 20 years,” Dr Arshni says.

The amount of hair transplanted depends on the extent of one’s baldness. Hair transplants in Kenya costing between Sh70,000 to Sh400,000.

Signs of old age are like a melting shadow, you barely notice it until the sun hits you. The sun is brightest when the sky is clear, and when age catches up with you not even the clouds can spare you the heat.