Happy I have hair, but do not like the direction of hairline

[Greenlantern2020]

Hi all,

 

I have posted before, and I apologize ahead of time if it seems like I am a bit of a complainer. But as we all know here, our hair is very important to us. For awhile after my HT I was not sure why my hair was so hard to style some times. I think I found the culprit: hairline design/ directions of follicles. It kind of of irritates me that it seems like I have a "permeant" comb over, as combing it to the right side seems to be only way hair falls easily and naturally (I would ideally like to slick it back evenly). My questions are (bare in mind I know I need to consult with a DR. but I appreciate all advice):

 

1. Is it still possible to train the hair follicles some how (2 years post op)? 

2. Would a Dr. have to remove the implanted hair and reposition the directions?

3. What a small procedure for density help alleviate the hair directions?

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Greenlantern2020

[anotherbaldguy]

I have a similar issue where a surgeon mis-angled my entire hairline upwards and not forwards

1. You CAN train hair to act a certain way, but it takes a lot of time (i.e. years). People who wear their hair in a ponytail have trained their hair to sit backwards.

As you are 2 years post-op that's when the hair should have settled already, so if your hair was mis-angled that way it's likely permanent. 

2. Possibly yes. but most surgeons would be hesitant to do it because the amount of scarring/transection/permanent redness to the hairline isn't worth it. If you did want to remove and re-angle the hairline you'd have to do over multiple surgeries. If you are a low norwood and have an abundant donor you could theoretically remove the hairline with something like electrolysis and start over, although most clinics wouldn't like this because it wastes grafts. 

3. I asked my surgeon a similar question and they refused to do add more hair because they would have to similarly mis-angle the new grafts to match the hairline, thus only adding to the problem. Alternatively if you added more density to the hairline that was now angled properly you'd suddenly have two competing hair directions which would leave you even more frustrated. I mean if your hairline isn't that dense or it only affects one side maybe a surgeon would consider it removing one side, but you're going to have to consult with some elite docs to find out (preferably in person).

[Greenlantern2020]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:30 PM, anotherbaldguy said:

I have a similar issue where a surgeon mis-angled my entire hairline upwards and not forwards

1. You CAN train hair to act a certain way, but it takes a lot of time (i.e. years). People who wear their hair in a ponytail have trained their hair to sit backwards.

As you are 2 years post-op that's when the hair should have settled already, so if your hair was mis-angled that way it's likely permanent. 

2. Possibly yes. but most surgeons would be hesitant to do it because the amount of scarring/transection/permanent redness to the hairline isn't worth it. If you did want to remove and re-angle the hairline you'd have to do over multiple surgeries. If you are a low norwood and have an abundant donor you could theoretically remove the hairline with something like electrolysis and start over, although most clinics wouldn't like this because it wastes grafts. 

3. I asked my surgeon a similar question and they refused to do add more hair because they would have to similarly mis-angle the new grafts to match the hairline, thus only adding to the problem. Alternatively if you added more density to the hairline that was now angled properly you'd suddenly have two competing hair directions which would leave you even more frustrated. I mean if your hairline isn't that dense or it only affects one side maybe a surgeon would consider it removing one side, but you're going to have to consult with some elite docs to find out (preferably in person).

Great input! I appreciate the thoughts. You know, my hair doesn't look all that bad, it's just frustrating getting the correct style and "fighting" the "cowlick" the Dr. gave me. But in the right setting I can get it to work but it always favors the right side. Perhaps reconstructing my temporal peaks would help as well?

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Greenlantern2020

[anotherbaldguy]

1 hour ago, Greenlantern2020 said:

 Perhaps reconstructing my temporal peaks would help as well?

My surgeon fully constructed my temple points and that has managed to offset all the issues with the low placement/angulation of my hairline, so yes i think it would help. Your temple points look to be fully receded like mine were (one side more than the other which again is the norm) so it's probably going to take around 800 grafts.

There are only a handful of surgeon's able to fully reconstruct temple points (the angulation, design and hair selection all need to be accurate) so again you should only be looking at elite clinics to handle it. 

Lol you make me feel like i should have posted a review of my surgery so i wouldn't have to write this all out. 

[Curious25]

You look like you could benefit from a hairline softening, which would be a lot easier to execute, as @anotherbaldguy has previously alluded to, addressing the angulation issues, whilst doable, is quite a tricky and lengthy process, which would require a lot of time, money and inconvenience for what could be up to 3 years given the volume of surgeries required combined with the general average wait times that top clinics have. And when I say top clinics - you really need to be going to a top clinic for something like that. 
 

For that reason - in these situations I think the superior strategies to tackle this, tend to be one’s that think outside the box, and look to mitigate the issues via focusing on interventions that don’t actually address the (angulation) issue itself, but rather help minimise the effect of the issue.
 

Craft-full reconstruction of your temple points will balance your hairline, and softening it with some fine haired singles, will enhance the naturalness in appearance, so these two relatively do-able surgeries (for a top clinic) could actually save you a lot of time, hassle, and cost. 
 

And as a disclaimer, I have no idea who you had your previous surgery with, to cover myself from any accusations from people who may feel I’m being unfair on the surgeon . . I’m just saying what I see from these pics in the thread. 

[Greenlantern2020]

8 hours ago, Curious25 said:

You look like you could benefit from a hairline softening, which would be a lot easier to execute, as @anotherbaldguy has previously alluded to, addressing the angulation issues, whilst doable, is quite a tricky and lengthy process, which would require a lot of time, money and inconvenience for what could be up to 3 years given the volume of surgeries required combined with the general average wait times that top clinics have. And when I say top clinics - you really need to be going to a top clinic for something like that. 
 

For that reason - in these situations I think the superior strategies to tackle this, tend to be one’s that think outside the box, and look to mitigate the issues via focusing on interventions that don’t actually address the (angulation) issue itself, but rather help minimise the effect of the issue.
 

Craft-full reconstruction of your temple points will balance your hairline, and softening it with some fine haired singles, will enhance the naturalness in appearance, so these two relatively do-able surgeries (for a top clinic) could actually save you a lot of time, hassle, and cost. 
 

And as a disclaimer, I have no idea who you had your previous surgery with, to cover myself from any accusations from people who may feel I’m being unfair on the surgeon . . I’m just saying what I see from these pics in the thread. 

Yea, I don't entirely hate my hair but just wish the yield had more density and the angles were a bit better. My surgeon advised me not to the temporaral points, but quite frankly it's probably because he's not experienced enough. I was thinking about going to Dr. Diep. Any thoughts on his work?

[BDK081522]

3 hours ago, Greenlantern2020 said:

Yea, I don't entirely hate my hair but just wish the yield had more density and the angles were a bit better. My surgeon advised me not to the temporaral points, but quite frankly it's probably because he's not experienced enough. I was thinking about going to Dr. Diep. Any thoughts on his work?

I would look elsewhere as Dr Diep himself misangles grafts in some of his transplants. You need an expert in naturalness and someone who creates soft hairlines. There are very few surgeons who do temple points well so do your homework before restoring this area.