Low aggressive hairlines

[splitting hairs]

Low hairlines tend to look very good, and its what most of us would choose. However, they just wouldn't look right on guys in their 40's and 50's.

 

We have to remember we need to be conservative with our donor hair too, since it is limited.

 

I have to say that I feel Dr Rahal does the best hairline work I have seen and I am very tempted to opt for the low dense hairlines that for me, are his signature.

 

But what are the potential future consequences of this? So many guys in their early twenties opt fot this, but I guess it could potentially be something they regret, should their hairloss progress and they then run out of grafts for the rest of their head. This needs to be borne in mind. Is it then ethical to perform such a transplant on a young guy??

 

I'm trying to weigh up the situation here.

Any views would be appreciated.

[Blake Bloxham]

The biggest issue with low, aggressive hairlines is future loss. If you get a HT at 25 years old with a low, flat frontal hairline with little to no temporal flaring, and then suffer from future loss ... you're going to have this great looking, DHT resistant hairline with a big gap between it and where the anterior position of your midscalp hairline now begins! It isn't impossible to get one of these low hairlines, but you'd need to be counseled on future loss and make sure it looked age appropriate.

[Jotronic]

FHTD is correct in that future loss is a consideration. I have seen some patients come to us that had lower ultra dense hairlines created by other clinics only to have the areas immediately behind their HT hairline continue to thin. They then go back and have that filled in and before you know it 5000 or 6000 grafts have been used up just to keep up with and hide the "gaps" that formed. They then come to us thinking that because we are the megasession leaders that we can make 4000 more grafts magically appear out of their donor and fill in the still continued thinning in the mid-scalp. They were mistakenly told that their hair loss would stop because of Propecia but they were NOT told that Propecia just doesn't work so well in the frontal zone.

 

Another issue to consider is the appearance of your profile. If you have even the smallest amount of thinning in the crown a low dense hairline looks off balance when looked at from the sides. I've seen it before and it really looks odd. Low dense hairlines do exist for "forty plus" year old men but they have zero hair loss and have no weakness anywhere. Ronald Reagan was one such person.

 

There are the rare occasions where recreating low dense hairlines makes sense for the patient but they are few and far in between in my opinion.

[splitting hairs]

Thanks for the input guys!! You've confirmed what I was thinking. I'm sticking to my plan of playing the waiting game until my hairloss progresses to when the front third is gone, then going to Dr Hasson to fix me up!

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Good advice. I counsel all patients that the 3 most common mistakes of hair work are:

 

1. big wide scar from trying to take too wide of a strip, or poor closure; although patient physiology certainly plays a role.

 

2. too little hair placed over too much bald head (2500 grafts scattered over a class 7...)

 

3. too low of a forehead. we definitely lose some younger patients to an aggressive guy nearby who gives a low hairline; that looks great in the 20s. but in my opinion, that same hairline looks goofy at 40, much less 60.

 

so be conservative in your hairline desires, you are getting this surgery forever, not just til you reach 35.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[justincase]

What would be considered too low or aggressive hairline. 5 or 6 cm above the eyebrows? Also in these cases is laser hair removal an option to create temple recession or move the hairline back a cm or two?

[Blake Bloxham]

Justincase,

I read in a book once that there is a point in the forehead where when you press your fingers against it and move upward (toward the hairline) the forehead goes from vertical to a horizontal slope, and that you aren't supposed to put the mid frontal point below this marker (I think it's called the shingle point? err something hahaha).

[Megatron]

I agree with the sentiment being expressed here. I think most newbies, including myself, automatically think the lower the better. But, after looking at hundreds of HT pics, reading this forum for months and researching the issue to death I've come to realize it doesn't make much sense.

 

If you're losing your hair now you are going to continue losing your hair. You may be able to slow it down, but it will only get worse not better. Simply put, hair loss sufferers don't have the genes to pull off a low hair line. You're either going to lose more hair or it will get thin. Either way, you're building a wall without an army in behind. It's gonna look weird eventually.

 

Follow most ethical doctor's advice and think of a long term, realistic plan. Otherwise, don't venture down the HT road because there ain't no turning back.

[justincase]

Originally posted by Megatron:

Otherwise, don't venture down the HT road because there ain't no turning back.

 

Is that 100% true that there aint no going back? My questions before went unanswered but if you had a low aggressive hairline done, isnt it possible use laser hair removal on the hairline to an age appropriate level? Couldnt you just enjoy the low hairline until you hit your late 40's or 50's and then move it back?

[ScottishGuy]

Originally posted by justincase:

Originally posted by Megatron:

Otherwise, don't venture down the HT road because there ain't no turning back.

 

Is that 100% true that there aint no going back? My questions before went unanswered but if you had a low aggressive hairline done, isnt it possible use laser hair removal on the hairline to an age appropriate level? Couldnt you just enjoy the low hairline until you hit your late 40's or 50's and then move it back?

 

I don't think its impossible but there is usually some slight scarring from where the incisions were made originally, so it may look bad. Also, the grafts further back could be 2 or 3 hair groupings, which could look unnatural.