Hairline lowering or forehead reduction

[Dr. William Lindsey]

I think you ought to see IN PERSON a few docs and get there opinion. I'll try to attach a typical browlift scar done by me. For most females who want to lower their hairline, I personally favor this one step approach over a transplant...but each person has characteristics that would influence my recommendation on this topic. See a few docs, but don't rule out the hairline option yet.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Goldilocks]

I think you ought to see IN PERSON a few docs and get there opinion.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

 

I completely agree with this. By no means would I base your decision purely on what you see or read online. I was just thinking that as a first step, it might be nice to do a handful of online consultations. From there, you can decide who you might like to go see in person. That's what I did and it worked out great for me.

[kitty21]

Thanks for the concern and advice everybody

I, of course, did not base my decision entirely on what I read on this forum...actually I had two surgeons recommending me not to take up forehead reduction because it's really invasive but I still wasn't convinced. Seeing the surgery video and comments from all the lovely people who gave me advice tipped the scales.

 

I had scheduled my hair transplant surgery in August and my surgeon will be using strip because FUE's loss rate for follicle is about 30% (according to him).

And my hair transplant surgeon also do not recommend me to let my hairline down too

much.

Will be posting before and after photos of my forehead here after my surgery.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

If you are going with hair vs scalp lowering, then strip is a great alternative. It would allow you more hair in one setting and MOST females have lots of hair to conceal even the worst of donor scars...and most likely you won't get a bad scar anyway.

 

As to that 30% failure rate. There are 2 issues. First, is failure to harvest a given attempt because the hair folllicle pulls off or is severed from the root bulb. Those aren't really failures as the root stays and will regrow a hair in that donor region. The doc has to make another attempt to get a different follicle of course, but the "missed" bulb wasn't killed, and would be there for a future FUE attempt months in the future. The second issue is decreased yield from FUE vs. strip. Many threads on this forum go into that issue in detail so I won't re-hash it here.

 

Good luck to you and keep us informed on your progress.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Sparky]

FUE yeild would only be as low as 30% loss if the doc didnt know what they were doing.

[Topcat611]

The comment, " most likely you will not get a bad scar anyway" is poor advice in my opinion. The fact is you don't know how big and bad the scar will be until after the fact.

 

I also agree with Sparky. There is no definitive answer to fue vs strip. If 90% of the doctors get very poor yield because they lack the skill for fue, yet the other 10% get very high yield, does fue have a poorer yield? Yes if you go to that 90% and no if you go to the 10%.

[Goldilocks]

Since most females don't shave their hair, I'm not sure why strip is such a big deal. The surrounding hair will cover the scar, however fine or wide it is. My first scar ranged from 1-3 mm in width, but no one would ever know, even with my hair parted into pigtails, not to mention, my hair is fairly thin and quite fine in texture. It is also far more economical to go with strip than fue, and you can get more grafts in the same period of time. Isn't strip considered to be the gold standard in hair restoration?

 

How much are you looking to lower your forehead? 1000 grafts doesn't sound like very many, unless you were filling in a small area or only wanted to get your feet wet with hair transplantation to make sure you are going to be satisfied with the texture and direction of that transplanted hair...

 

Have you seen actual patients of the doctor you are going to? Particularly ones with similar hair characteristics to yours? Perhaps that might alleviate some of your concerns...

 

There is no doubt that the recovery time is significant with hair transplantation, especially if you have longer hair. However, aside from the first three to four months being pretty much worse than where you started, you can usually find a way to style your hair as it grows to a length that matches the rest of your hair. Having the front of your hair cut in layers can help tremendously with alleviating the awkwardness of the regrowth stage.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Goldilocks

[backspace]

FUE or bust. You're probably beautiful as is and don't need surgery anyway. Why would you willingly scar up your scalp?

[wb280]

It's all about perceptions and perspectives. One's poison is another's antidote. A NW3 may be appealing to a NW 7 but likewise, the NW 3 will be envying those full of hair. If it makes sense to the patient and he/she is a suitable candidate with attainable expectations, i will not question much

 

It all depends on the individual IMHO

Edited August 19, 2010 by wb280

[Bill - Seemiller]

backspace,

 

Both FUT and FUE produce scarring. Thus, your advice only to consider the one without considering the other is potentially dangerous advice. Both have advantages and limitations and it's definitely worth exploring both and only under the right circumstances will an experienced surgeon perform one over the other.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[backspace]

Yes, Bill is correct, both options produce scarring. I apologize for any potentially dangerous advice. The FUT scar is one linear scar caused by removal of a 'strip' from your scalp while the FUE scars are numerous and are approximately 1mm (sometimes more/less) in diameter each.

 

The other point I was trying to make is that there is a 3rd option which is to not have any surgery done at all. It is something to consider and I don't think it should be ruled out completely.