What You Need to Know About Forehead Reduction and Hairline Lowering Surgeries

There are two types of procedures for lowering a hairline. One is a surgical excision of the upper forehead, followed by the downward advancement of the hairline up to an inch from where it was prior to the surgery. To accomplish this, the entire scalp from the frontal hairline to the very back of the crown is lifted up and pulled forward. When this is done by an experienced surgeon, the hairline can often be advanced about 2/3rds – 1 inch, if there is enough looseness when this lifting process is done. This procedure is often completed in one surgical session; however, it may not address receded corners of the hairline if the corner recession is significant. A great advantage of this surgical approach is the immediate impact of the procedure on hairline location, with healing usually complete in a week or so. Sometimes, this procedure produces a scar in front of the hairline, and if this is the case, a hair transplant in front of the hairline can address the scar. If there is corner hair loss, or if you are a male, a hair transplant lowering surgery is better, because the risk of recession in men with genetic balding is very high. A recession will always reveal the scar from a hairline advancement surgery. The only disadvantage to the transplant is that it takes 6-8 months to fully grow out. For men, a hair transplant is a better procedure because the risk of hair loss is high, and hairline recession will show the scar from a hairline advancement surgery.

The second type of hairline lowering procedure is done through hair transplantation. The number of sessions varies by the thickness of the hair. For women with other than fine hair, they might do this in a single session. With fine hair, it often takes two sessions. The time to see the impact of a hairline lowering hair transplant procedure is 5-7 months after the surgery date, and if a second session is required, it will take another 5-7 month wait for full growth. See web references below for photos of this process on women we treated. When done properly, a transition zone is created that makes the frontal leading edge of the hairline soft – what I call a no-hairline hairline. See here:  https://newhair.com/female-hairline-lowering/