Lowering Naturally High Hairline-Extreme Anxiety

[WhiteLion]

Hi there,

 

(key facts have been Bolded due to long post)

 

I'm a 22 year old male born with a high hairline. I won't go into all the boring details but in my childhood I experienced significant bullying as a result of my large forehead. This (and numerous other childhood issues) led to me being severely socially anxious. I've received various types of counselling and have been on numerous anti-depressants since 16, but the anxiety remains.

 

I the last 2 years I noticed that my hairline was receding even more around the temples, I went to a trichologist and was told that it is unlikely to be MPB and just a natural maturing hairline which will not change much from now on (although it has receded quite far at the temples). This recession caused the anxiety to flare up and resulted in me dropping out of university and quitting my job, as I found myself unable to leave the house and go out in public. I am VERY aware this is not a rational reaction, and that it could be MUCH worse, (I have friends nearly completely bald) but depression and anxiety do not allow you to act rationally, and despite this knowledge I currently find myself severely physically effected by social situations (shaking, sweating etc)

 

I've had a long fringe to hide my hairline as long as I can remember, but any kind of wind blows my hair up, shows my hairline, and up flares my anxiety. As such I can't remember the last time I went out in public without wearing a hat.

 

In speaking with my counsellor I was told that obviously I have emotional issues that must be dealt with, but given my extensive (failed) attempts so far to deal with this problem via counselling, a hairline lowering procedure could help alleviate some of my anxiety. It would allow me to have short, easy to maintain hairstyles and lead a more active, less anxious life.

 

Obviously any procedure would be expensive for a student and I would have to save up for a while, but, what procedures would you recommend looking into? Since I am not showing signs of MPB could I have the current hairline moved down via surgery and excision of excess forehead? Or would I have to get hair implants (FUE etc)?

 

Before I got any procedure done I would study its pro's and cons and discuss it with my counsellor to see if it was the right decision.

 

I hope this is the right place to post this as I know it's not balding by MPB or other causes. Apologies for the long post.

 

Thanks for any advice you can provide!

William.

 

Edit: Added poorly anonymised photo of myself and hairline. Will take better photo soon as does not show the recession @ the temples.

 

Edited March 31, 2012 by WhiteLion

[Davis91]

Hey friend,

 

If you do want people to comment, you would need to post some photos.

 

You are doing the right thing to ensure you have a support network/professional to talk to. Keep that up. You have had a tough time for the last number of years with various things and this particular issue is a contributing factor. You must feel isolated in this, but as you can tell from these boards, a lot of men go through issues with their hair or other things.

 

Please know it would be hard for a lot of posters here to comment on surgical procedures like a brow reduction (not even sure that is the right terminology) vs. hair transplants. Some of the doctors here are plastic surgeons as well but whatever you end up doing, if you end up getting a consult for this with a doctor, please get multiple ones and don't rush into anything major. As much as it might relieve your fears to book some procedure right away, be sure to coordinate your plans with your counsellor as you said so that you have support in making a decision.

[JayWalker]

Best thing you can do, get some pictures up. Thats what I did straight off, loads of great advice will come your way.

[WhiteLion]

Photo has been uploaded to my profile, blurred my face out of sheer vanity

 

Thanks for the replies so far guys! Thanks so much for your advice.

 

@Lillie yeah I don't go swimming as my wet hair shows off the high hairline, same with any exercise that makes me sweat. Nice to know I'm not alone. From what I can see of your photos you've had an amazing result! What procedure did you undergo?

 

William

[attak]

i think you look fine.

[lorenzo]

I dont feel any ethical doctor will lower a hairline on a 22 years old. Thats my opinion

[attak]

cut it shorter and style it in a caesar style

[Sean]

I'd say to keep this in mind. For every 1cm you lower, it will probably cost you around 1,000 Grafts.

 

A person on this forum that goes by the user id "corvettetester" did go for a hair transplant to lower his hairline. I haven't really seen him on here for a while but you may want to look his name up in the search and see his results in progress.

 

If you keep your hair long then FUT can be an option but if you want to ever buzz your head in the future for whatever reason then FUE would be an option.

 

A strategy some doctors use to measure hairline placement for males is that they take the bridge of your nose to the bottom of your chin and use that measurement to mark the distance from the middle of your eyebrows upwards.

[lorenzo]

Lime019 my point was not to sound harsch and not be understanding. As a person that suffered from hairloss I understand his insecurity.

[mahhong]

I think Lorenzo is right in the sense that, unfortunately, 22 is too young to really say whether lowering the hairline is something you might be able to do. You do look to have a strong head of hair but there is unfortunately no way of knowing whether MPB will be in your future or not. Do you know what your family history is like? Are any males in your family bald? This won't tell you for certain whether you will or won't go bald, but I think in honesty what the trichologist meant is that you are not currently exhibiting any signs of MPB. No doctor could confidently tell you won't develop MPB in the future - be that in 2 years time, 10 years time, 20 years time etc.

 

To that extent lowering your hairline may be tricky. I would go and see a reputable hair restoration doctor as they can do a proper analysis and make a more informed decision with you, but lowering a hairline is a very risky procedure. If you started to go bald at some point in your future after lowering your hairline, you'd be in big trouble to be frank, because you'd have to have further procedures to deal with that balding and you'd also be looking at a larger number of grafts because of the lowered hairline. As I'm sure you know, we only have a limited amount of donor hair and it's usually not enough to get full density or anything close to it back in the balding area (unless your balding is very minimal). To that extent HTs are rarely used to sculpt or lower someone's hairline unless there is a high degree of certainty they won't bald or the balding will be very minimal. That certainty usually comes from family history and from your age. If you're 35 and have no hairloss, it's a good bet you won't suddenly develop major hairloss (though still just a bet), but at 22 the honest truth is nobody can know.

 

There is another factor here that you already know about, and that is that really this is to do with your perception of your hair and not your hair itself. I would be concerned that in addition to the risk of lowering your hairline from a long-term perspective, there is also the psychological perspective to consider. I'm not sure that lowering your hairline, even if it could be done, would easily eliminate your problems with your perception of yourself. You look perfectly fine to me and I can guarantee that 99.9% of other people that have seen you with the wind in your hair or when it's slicked back would never in a million years think "man, that guy has a high hairline".

 

I know this is about improving your own perception of yourself and, to that extent, I do understand that what I've just said doesn't really matter. I also read you've tried counselling and feel that hasn't improved the situation. But a hairline lowering procedure is risky at the best of times and if it was to be miscalculated and you started to bald naturally through MPB, the consequences could be disastrous unfortunately. Just something to consider; make sure you see a good and honest doctor. You'd probably find some hack out there who'd do whatever you want for a fee - PLEASE don't let them persuade you to go ahead by appealing to your emotions.

 

In short, I honestly think that most reputable doctors would be very reluctant to perform a hairline lowering procedure. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I do think that's the answer you'll get and for good reason. I would urge you to see a good doctor though (any of the recommended doctors on these forums would help you and give invaluable advice). Only they will know whether this is feasible and they will only know after a thorough examination - but my opinion is that nobody will perform a surgery like this at the age of 22.

 

I have no knowledge about any sort of forehead reduction/excision procedures so couldn't comment on them. There is a Doctor on these forums called Dr. Lindsey that is both a great hair restoration doctor but also deals more generally with cosmetic surgery and I've seen many interesting special cases from him that deal with hair restoration in specific or unusual circumstances. I am not saying he could definitely help but he might be worth looking up on the internet in more detail!

 

Anyway, best of luck with finding a solution to this! I know these sorts of words mean little to you given your perception of things, but you really don't have an unnaturally high forehead.

[Sparky]

If you have an anxiety about it now, an HT could make that anxiety a 100 times worse. Don't even think about getting an HT at 22. I had anxiety about my hair like you, I had barely any loss but had an HT at 22 and it was the worst thing I could of done.

Your hair looks fine, your not at school anymore, don't let the memory of those bullies push you into doing anything that you may regret.

[WhiteLion]

Hi again everyone,

 

Thanks for your replies and supportive words, and apologies I’ve taken so long to reply, have recently been without internet for a while.

 

The main reason I’m researching these options is the fact that my high hairline has bothered me for SO long (I have memories of being quite anxious at my hairline at age 13), and has impacted my general life in such a profound way that I am doing anything I can to stop the problem, and given that I have exhausted most non-surgical coping options (as I am aware this is more a mental issue than a physical issue) such as therapy, confiding in friends, medication and various hairstyles, it seems sensible to explore the surgical options, although any procedure would be thoroughly researched and discussed with a psychological counsellor first.

 

@Lillie019 It seems a number of forum posters that have had HT procedures have had secondary procedures to increase density. Is this the case with all hair transplants or is it due to the fact that you pay per follical transfer and so for the sake of money its desirable to use the minimum possible to achieve a good result? Also did you look into forehead reduction surgery as an alternative when you were first researching, (I’ve only read about it at <http://draharonov.com/foreheadreduction.html>) or any other surgical alternatives? It would just be useful to know why you chose the procedure you did. (Which I assume is FUE as you don’t seem to have any scar in your photos?)

 

@Sean, thanks for the advice! I’ll personal message Corvettetester and ask him about his procedure.

 

@Mahhong Thank you for your support and advice, it is more important than you may realise for me to be told that you don’t perceive my hairline to be unnatural, obviously I have been told this before but only by close friends who are not likely to give an unbiased opinion to save from offending me. To hear it from a stranger therefore is actually a great help.

I’ve spoken to my Trichologist about this procedure (she is a member of the Institute of Trichologists in the UK and has excellent credentials) and whilst she is against the idea of the procedure, she would be able to advise a reliable surgeon and has warned me with examples of bad procedures and hack surgeons. I would do extensive research.

 

Best Regards,

William.

[ILikeMyHair]

Hey WhiteLion

 

When I looked at your hair, I did not even file like your hairline was that high or unnatural. My friend has a hairline like yours and he is a handsome hunk. He keeps his hair short. If you keep yours long I don't see how anyone would say that you have a high hairline. What you need to do is start going to the gym and get buff. For more reasons, than one that will help you in your life.

 

First, people won't bully you anymore, which I doubt they do now anyways because you are out of high school. Second every one looks better with a better body. Third it makes your facial feature better and more defined. Fourth it will make the type of hairline you have seem really nice on your face. Fifth you will see a lot of body builders with buzz cuts or bald heads or way worse hair lines than you which might make you feel better. And last but not least, it releases endorphins in your head that make you feel naturally happy. Oh and I forgot to mention - girls love guys with a great body.

 

That's just what I think you need to do at this point. Honestly I don't know why those kids bullied you about your hairline. I don't see anything unusual about it.

[1978matt]

I agree wholeheartedly with ILikeMyHair.

 

I've lost my hair for some time now but have not cut back on the gym visits.

 

If youre really worried about the hair then you could start saving 'just incase' and re evaluate the situation in 5 years or so.

[Liberty]

White Lion - I understand what you are feeling. I am in the process of lowering my hairline now. :rolleyes: It's a work in progress for sure! It's not done. But check out my pictures and you will have an idea of what the process would look like. I'm still growing in, so be nice. hehe.

 

I do think your hairline looks perfectly nice for a man. But since you are gathering info...take a peek.

 

Liberty.

Edited October 23, 2012 by Liberty