Hairline lowering before and after
Hairline patient 1
Gender of the hairline
Mail hairline
- Hairline is higher
- M-shape
Female hairline
- Hairline is lower
- Inverted U-shape
The female hairline is variable in position. In the ideal situation, the hairline is 5 to 6.5 cm above the brows and usually begins at the point where the scalp slopes from a more horizontal position to a more vertical position.
In males the average hairline is higher than the average in females.
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.
Mail aging pattern
- Receding hairline
Female aging pattern
- Overall thinning
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
Hairline 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. If the widow peak are very large or a big advancement is needed, a two-stage procedure with a tissue expander is required.
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.
This operation can be easily combined with a forehead/brow lift to achieve the optimal result in those with both a high hairline and aging, drooping brows. The incision of both procedures is the same.
Procedure hairline lowering
The flexibility of the scalp, the amount of lowering that is required and the extent of the widow peaks determine if the hairline lowering surgery can be performed as a simple on-stage procedure.
Normally an advancement of 1 cm is possible without creating a wide scar. When advancing the hairline more than 1 cm, especially when the widow-peaks need to be excised in a V-shape, there can be a lot of tension on the wounds which causes a wide scar. The survival rate of hairgrafts inside this scar is low. Before performing hair transplantation the scar needs to be excised and the wound closed without tension. This is possible about 1 year after the hairline lowering.
If the hairline needs to be advanced ad a very large distance (more then 2.5 cm) or if the scalp is tight or the widow peaks considerable, a two-stage procedure with a tissue expander should be considered. This procedure involves the placement of the expander as the first stage and advancement of the hairline as the second stage.
Procedure simple one-stage hairline lowering
Procedure two-stage expansion assisted hairline lowering
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. For patients from abroad, they can return home the same day. The staples and stitches can be removed in their home country by a general practitioner.
- Scar—A visible scar exists, but it will typically be too faint to be noticed.
- Numbness—Forehead numbness can last for weeks.