Hairline lowering and recontouring

Gender of the hairline

In males the hairline is often higher than in females. The distance between the brows and the hairline for women on average is 5 cm. For men this is 7 cm.

Another difference is the shape of the hairline. A man usually has receded corners above the temples that give it an “M” shape. Conversely, the female hair pattern is oval shaped, smoother and full around the facial edge.

An additional difference between male and female hairlines comes with the age. There is a typical male pattern of baldness with a recession of the hairline. How many women have you seen with a receding hairline? While biological women do sometimes suffer from hair loss, it is usually an all-over thinning of the hair from the entire scalp and isn’t specifically targeted to one area.

Feminizing the hairline

Hariline lowering involves removing a section of the skin on the forehead (between the hairline and eyebrows) and pulling the scalp forward between 1.0 cm and 2.5 cm to correct for the receding masculine pattern hairline and to approximate, when possible, a more feminine ‘oval’ pattern hairline.

Hairline lowering is a permanent feminising solution for those patients who do not suffer from a receding hairline. It acts as a temporary fix for a receding hairline in patients suffering from hair loss, but will not stop the hair loss. We highly recommend that these patients seek out an additional hair loss solution, like hair transplantation, to keep the hairline looking full and healthy.

Procedure

• This procedure is very well combined with forehead recontouring and brow lift, which are often done via the same incision.
• General or local anesthesia is given.
• An incision is made along the hairline. The incision is made just inside the hairline, in an irregular fashion, to avoid a straight scar. Straight scars are more conspicuous than irregularly curved ones. Also the blade is held in such a direction that about six weeks postoperatively the hair starts growing through the scar, making it almost invisible.
• The scalp will be mobilized to the back of the head and pulled forward as much as needed. Normally 1.5 -2 cm of advancement is no problem.
• A section of forehead skin at the hairline is removed.
• The scalp is fixed to the bone using Endotines to prevent it from pulling back.
  

Recovery hairline lowering

• Pain— The patient may suffer from some pain during the first days, which is suppressed with medication.
• Staples and stitches—Staples will be removed after 7 days.
• Scar—A visible scar exists, but it will typically be too faint to be noticed.
• Numbness—Forehead numbness can last for weeks.