head/face shape relation to hairline.

[rab]

i seem to have a tall head, what is the distance one should have between the top (tallest) part of your head and your hairline, if they where measured on a straight plain ie standing against a wall put a ruler on the top of your head and point it straight out then line one up with your hairline and point it straight out and measure the distance between the two, what should that be??

[watch4norwoods]

it's all relative to facial third proportions. On average though, 3-4 fingers between brow ridge, and hairline.

 

A reputable doctor will automatically take this in consideration, after all the hairline is what predominately frames the face. It needs to be balanced, and corespondent with all other features for a natural, and aesthetic result.

[Blake Bloxham]

Hi Rab,

 

The hairline height isn't really measured by comparing the top of the head to the frontal hairline itself. Instead, it is usually determined by measuring the distance between the mid-glabella line (the midpoint between your eyebrows) to the most anterior part of the frontal hairline. Like watch said, the height itself really depends on your facial proportions. It will also be greatly affected by your Norwood level and the amount of grafts you have available for hairline reconstruction. However, hairline height is generally 5.5 to 7.5 cm from the mid-glabella to the frontal hairline.

[Sean]

3-4 fingers above the tip of your eyebrows usually. The higher up these surgeons design it, the more conservative it will look. The more conservative the design, the more matured recessive it will look. Proper framing is key to avoid forehead stares.

[Since21]

Here is a good discussion on here about hairline height:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/149969-hairline-height.html

[Dr. William Lindsey]

There are entire chapters in facial plastic texts written on the shape of the face and location of the hairline. In spite of all of the words one may find in those 2 things are important and help me determine where a hairline "ought" to go.

 

1. the forehead comes up fairly vertically and at some point, it makes a sharp bend and becomes much more horizontal. THAT is where I initially plan to put the hairline.

 

2. we put a few dots to represent a hairline there, and stand back about 4 or 5 feet. if its looks reasonable, we're pretty close. if it looks goofy....back to the drawing board.

 

Now for most folks that I see, that is how its done. There are 2 or 3 exceptions.

 

A. IF someone is a class 6 or 7, I push to put the hairline higher so we can cover a greater percentage of that bald skin. Its all geometry, I can cover a palm sized area and start at the eyebrows and only make it to where the hairline should be, or I can start way back and viewers will never see the improvement. There is a happy medium that one can usually find to frame the face and give cosmetic coverage of a good area of bald skin.

 

B. Some people have just really tall foreheads, and have had them all their lives. It can be a struggle to convince them not to bring their hairline down too much...not because its not doable, but because it may change their appearance more than they anticipate and/or look goofy. Recall that text books and ratios are fine...but we're working on humans, not mathematical equations.

 

C. And some people have really low hairlines, but appear to be on the way to class 6. I have see numerous people from the Indian/Pakistan region with quite low hairlines, and a family of totally bald men, and other than some sparse hairline hairs that they see in the mirror, they have significant thinning all the way to the crown. I generally push a hairline behind the thin hairline they have so that they have a reasonable coverage that looks age appropriate.

 

I hope this adds to the discussion.

 

Good topic.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Spanker]

For a high hairline, I like a straighter hairline unless the guy is a high NW level (or surely will be). For people like me with a low hairline, I prefer some temporal recession as I feel that it ages better.

 

I say go higher and drop it later if you are unhappy. I wish mine was a tad higher but I had to work with what I had and in some of the hairline planted behind existing hair. I think if someone is progressively bald, most of the time they will look better with a high hairline. However, I have seen some pretty aggressive FUE cases from Turkey lately with hairlines that were pretty aggressive on pretty bald guys that looked good. I would say to never try to be a NW 1. But most people that are not destined to be really advanced can get away with a NW2 look, especially with a bit of a higher hairline.

[1978matt]

The goofiest hairlines I've seen of late are coming out of the Armani Clinic, Beverley Hills. Too low and with grafts placed in vertical forehead.