Planning On Lowering My Hairline, Who Should I Go To?

hairlineboii

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Hi there.

First off, I am completely new to this forum, so pardon me if this is posted in the wrong section. But anyways, I am a 20 year old male (yes, I know this is rather young), and I was born with an extremely high hairline, which has resulted in a lot of bullying throughout the years. I am wearing a cap or a hat every single day, and I have been doing this since I probably was 13 years old, and I am very self-conscious about it. I have really thought about it, and I have decided that I no longer want to constantly hide my hairline (which affects my life rather negatively), by attempting to fix it through a surgery.

I will mention that I am from Norway, and I have been at two consultations at two separate clinics. However, through my research, I quickly found out that the best people is certainly not in Norway. And yes - I know that there's no such thing as 'the best', but I was wondering if any of you could point me in the right direction of choosing a doctor who creates good and natural looking hairlines? I have a lot of hair, with waves in it - but the problem is my hairline.

I also have to admit that I do have a fear of syringes, so going through this surgery is a big step for me. Therefore, I would prefer not to feel the need of 'fixing' or going through another surgery. I am willing to pay a little bit extra to ensure myself that the surgery will be done by a professional that can 'almost' guarantee a good outcome. Who would you suggest me to go to?

I have been in dialogue with ASMED, and they have also given me a price etc - but I am still not sure who to go with. He estimated that I would need 2 - 2,500 grafts for lowering my hairline about 2cm, is this a good deal? I want to make sure that I am in good hands, and that I don't have to be afraid of an unnatural and bad looking result.

My plan is to do a surgery in this coming winter, which gives me time to save up money and also do a lot of research with deciding.
 
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IdealForehead

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If you are not balding and were born with a high hairline, you DO NOT want a hair transplant.

I was where you are. My forehead from what I recall measured around 10 cm from hairline to nasion:

80aa081977476b533a0ac444e2676e0c.jpg


This was way too big and I have hated it my whole life. A few weeks ago, I got it fixed, but not by transplants. By forehead reduction. Forehead reduction is the only procedure that can eliminate a large amount of forehead while retaining natural density and hairlines.

eg.
forehead_reduction_surgery_hairline_lowering_surgery_big_forehead_01.jpg


A transplant will never match more than 50% of your natural density. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX IT THIS WAY. It won't look right.

The best doctors probably in the world for this are Dr. Fleming and Dr. Mayer in California. They have extensive experience with all sorts of advanced scalp procedures. I went with Dr. Fleming and I've been extremely happy, though I'm still healing.

If you want more than 2 cm reduction, you will need a balloon expander implanted first, which you will have to expand over the course of 6-8 weeks to stretch the scalp more to get more motion.

I had 5 cm removed as they took a bit of the frontal hairline out during the recontouring process after 500 mL fluid expansion. My nasion to hairline measures around 5.7 cm now which is relatively compact nicely proportioned to my face.

Rahal quoted me 2400 grafts to lower my hairline which would have created a horrible outcome. It would have looked horribly thin and abnormal.

Read up on this procedure and think it through. The only warning with this procedure is you can't go bald after it, or it will leave a linear scar across your forehead exposed. So be prepared to take heavy drugs if needed should you start to suffer from male pattern baldness or don't do it. You need to preserve the appearance if you do go ahead.

Just curious, what's your measurement with a tape measure from nasion to hairline?
 

thetdog666

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If you are not balding and were born with a high hairline, you DO NOT want a hair transplant.

I was where you are. My forehead from what I recall measured around 10 cm from hairline to nasion:

View attachment 85799

This was way too big and I have hated it my whole life. A few weeks ago, I got it fixed, but not by transplants. By forehead reduction. Forehead reduction is the only procedure that can eliminate a large amount of forehead while retaining natural density and hairlines.

eg.
View attachment 85800

A transplant will never match more than 50% of your natural density. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX IT THIS WAY. It won't look right.

The best doctors probably in the world for this are Dr. Fleming and Dr. Mayer in California. They have extensive experience with all sorts of advanced scalp procedures. I went with Dr. Fleming and I've been extremely happy, though I'm still healing.

If you want more than 2 cm reduction, you will need a balloon expander implanted first, which you will have to expand over the course of 6-8 weeks to stretch the scalp more to get more motion.

I had 5 cm removed as they took a bit of the frontal hairline out during the recontouring process after 500 mL fluid expansion. My nasion to hairline measures around 5.7 cm now which is relatively compact nicely proportioned to my face.

Rahal quoted me 2400 grafts to lower my hairline which would have created a horrible outcome. It would have looked horribly thin and abnormal.

Read up on this procedure and think it through. The only warning with this procedure is you can't go bald after it, or it will leave a linear scar across your forehead exposed. So be prepared to take heavy drugs if needed should you start to suffer from male pattern baldness or don't do it. You need to preserve the appearance if you do go ahead.

Just curious, what's your measurement with a tape measure from nasion to hairline?
How about if your hairline recedes? Wont you be able to see a scar?
 

hairlineboii

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If you are not balding and were born with a high hairline, you DO NOT want a hair transplant.

I was where you are. My forehead from what I recall measured around 10 cm from hairline to nasion:

View attachment 85799

This was way too big and I have hated it my whole life. A few weeks ago, I got it fixed, but not by transplants. By forehead reduction. Forehead reduction is the only procedure that can eliminate a large amount of forehead while retaining natural density and hairlines.

eg.
View attachment 85800

A transplant will never match more than 50% of your natural density. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX IT THIS WAY. It won't look right.

The best doctors probably in the world for this are Dr. Fleming and Dr. Mayer in California. They have extensive experience with all sorts of advanced scalp procedures. I went with Dr. Fleming and I've been extremely happy, though I'm still healing.

If you want more than 2 cm reduction, you will need a balloon expander implanted first, which you will have to expand over the course of 6-8 weeks to stretch the scalp more to get more motion.

I had 5 cm removed as they took a bit of the frontal hairline out during the recontouring process after 500 mL fluid expansion. My nasion to hairline measures around 5.7 cm now which is relatively compact nicely proportioned to my face.

Rahal quoted me 2400 grafts to lower my hairline which would have created a horrible outcome. It would have looked horribly thin and abnormal.

Read up on this procedure and think it through. The only warning with this procedure is you can't go bald after it, or it will leave a linear scar across your forehead exposed. So be prepared to take heavy drugs if needed should you start to suffer from male pattern baldness or don't do it. You need to preserve the appearance if you do go ahead.

Just curious, what's your measurement with a tape measure from nasion to hairline?

Hi there, thanks for the answer. I see, and honestly I did not know this. What I'm afraid of - as you mentioned, is the scarring it will leave. And also, what is the possible side effects of this procedure? I will obviously consider doing this, as I do not have any receding/loss of hair at all, while my hair is extremely dense. So I believe it would have looked even more unnatural. May I ask how much you payed for it? Also, could you provide me with some images of before/after of not necessarily you, but other people who have gone through the surgery? I believe I am around 8-9cm.

Could you also tell me a bit about the scarring? Will it be visible if I decided to for example have my hair backwards (or in a bun)? Would it be possible to get the scar to completely fade away, or will it always be a rather visible white line across my forehead on my hairline?
 
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mattj

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IdealForehead: are you male or female. The type of scalp reduction surgery you're talking about isn't normally suitable for men with male pattern balding, as the scars may be exposed by future hairloss. I understand that this type of surgery can be beneficial for women (as can hair transplant surgery) but it isn't a good option for men.
 

DoctorHouse

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IdealForehead: are you male or female. The type of scalp reduction surgery you're talking about isn't normally suitable for men with male pattern balding, as the scars may be exposed by future hairloss. I understand that this type of surgery can be beneficial for women (as can hair transplant surgery) but it isn't a good option for men.
@mattj, if you use FUE to implant into the scar will it still look bad? My measurement is about 7.6 cm. I would like to lower my hair line 2 cm. You saw my photos, you think I can get a decent new hairline if I did that with just FUE only? Matt you and I have similar head shapes, what is your measurement just out of curiosity?
 

IdealForehead

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I'm male. I don't plan to ever go bald so balding is not a risk. I am on aggressive anti-balding meds and they are working. I do not lose any hair and havent for a long time. If something changed and i started losing hair, i would get transplants or wear a wig if i ever went bald. I would look horrible bald so shaving my head is not an option anyway.

Transplants would have wasted most of my donor supply and created an unnatural result. That is a far worse option. You cannot effectively transplant down a hairline by over 4 cm without wasting the whole donor supply and still creating a half density result that doesn't blend naturally with the thick native hair everywhere else.

They do a trichophytic closure if the doctor is good which makes the scar nearly invisible. I am 3 weeks post op and half my scar is already pretty much invisible. Scarring is random though. Everyone heals different. Worse case scenario you can get some fue grafts to the hair line 12 months after to camouflage it if it heals imperfectly.

You can see some before and after pics on Dr. Aharonov's website although he doesnt use expanders much and i found him arrogant. Check dr. Fleming and mayers website (bevhills.com). Dr. Kabaker used to do a lot of these but he's retired now - you can search for his results. Dr. Eppstein does this also in New York and Miami and seems nice but i dont like his expander technique. Check their sites or search google images for forehead reduction.

You need a good and experienced surgeon. This is major surgery. It's not a joke. I wouldn't have let anyone but dr. Fleming do mine. It was 3600 for expander placement and 6900 for the final procedure USD. Plus cost of flights and hotels.

Don't go to an amateur and get butured. You could end up with very bad complications if this is done wrong. Recovery is not easy from either phase of the surgery even if everything goes smoothly. But it is the only way to reduce a forehead while maintaining natural density, flow, texture, and appearance.
 
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hairlineboii

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I'm male. I don't plan to ever go bald so balding is not a risk. I am on aggressive anti-balding meds and they are working. I do not lose any hair and havent for a long time. If something changed and i started losing hair, i would get transplants or wear a wig if i ever went bald. I would look horrible bald so shaving my head is not an option anyway.

Transplants would have wasted most of my donor supply and created an unnatural result. That is a far worse option. You cannot effectively transplant down a hairline by over 4 cm without wasting the whole donor supply and still creating a half density result that doesn't blend naturally with the thick native hair everywhere else.

They do a trichophytic closure if the doctor is good which makes the scar nearly invisible. I am 3 weeks post op and half my scar is already pretty much invisible. Scarring is random though. Everyone heals different. Worse case scenario you can get some fue grafts to the hair line 12 months after to camouflage it if it heals imperfectly.

You can see some before and after pics on Dr. Aharonov's website although he doesnt use expanders much and i found him arrogant. Check dr. Fleming and mayers website (bevhills.com). Dr. Kabaker used to do a lot of these but he's retired now - you can search for his results. Dr. Eppstein does this also in New York and Miami and seems nice but i dont like his expander technique. Check their sites or search google images for forehead reduction.

You need a good and experienced surgeon. This is major surgery. It's not a joke. I wouldn't have let anyone but dr. Fleming do mine. It was 3600 for expander placement and 6900 for the final procedure USD. Plus cost of flights and hotels.

Don't go to an amateur and get butured. You could end up with very bad complications if this is done wrong. Recovery is not easy from either phase of the surgery even if everything goes smoothly. But it is the only way to reduce a forehead while maintaining natural density, flow, texture, and appearance.
Thanks for your response. However, this procedure seems very risky. When you talk about complications, what do you mean? And could you elaborate on the recovery? What is the process?
 

IdealForehead

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Thanks for your response. However, this procedure seems very risky. When you talk about complications, what do you mean? And could you elaborate on the recovery? What is the process?

You should go for consults with some doctors to discuss that stuff. I plan to write about my full experience in a few weeks once im fully healed. Overall it was one of the best decisions i ever made in my life already. I wish i had this forehead since i was your age or a kid. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But my forehead was bigger than yours.

If you can afford it, go for a consult with dr. Fleming in los Angeles or look up some european surgeons who do this.

No matter what don't do a transplant though. Either do it properly or dont do it at all. Aharonov and Fleming both told me they have seen patients who tried to lower with transplants and they just ended up cutting the whole area of transplants out altogether because it looked horrible. You don't want to end up wasting your donor supply and still having to do that after.

Transplants = max 50% density.
 

hairlineboii

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You should go for consults with some doctors to discuss that stuff. I plan to write about my full experience in a few weeks once im fully healed. Overall it was one of the best decisions i ever made in my life already. I wish i had this forehead since i was your age or a kid. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

But my forehead was bigger than yours.

If you can afford it, go for a consult with dr. Fleming in los Angeles or look up some european surgeons who do this.

No matter what don't do a transplant though. Either do it properly or dont do it at all. Aharonov and Fleming both told me they have seen patients who tried to lower with transplants and they just ended up cutting the whole area of transplants out altogether because it looked horrible. You don't want to end up wasting your donor supply and still having to do that after.

Transplants = max 50% density.
I see, thanks for the reply. I have to admit that I have done massive research on this surgical procedure today, and I have read some rather strange things that I hope you could elaborate on. First off, I read on multiple forums and websites that people had started to experience extreme balding after the surgery, even one year later - and is this something you were told by the doctors you consulted with? Because this is (almost) the only thing that is holding me back. Some lady had posted pictures of her hair, and I felt extremely sorry for her, considering she had big bald patches spread through her hair. First I thought it was only the scar that could potentially experience this 'shock loss', but perhaps not?

Due to allergies and certain side effects, I would prefer not to take any medications such as Finasteride - and therefore, I am afraid of the balding situation. Don't quote me on this - but this was apparently because once you 'moved' the scalp, it affected the strength of the hair cells negatively (damaging/tension), and therefore - could result in balding in some people.

Also, I'd love if you could answer my last question; how is your forehead skin? Is it particularly 'tighter'? I'm also afraid it will affect my overall face, by removing natural wrinkles in my forehead when smiling and doing certain facial expressions. For example, and not to judge anyone - but you have probably seen these guys and women who has gotten a lot of implants and botox/fillers, where the face just looks completely wiped of any feelings/expressions.

Also, since this is something that I won't be doing in the very near future, I'd love to read your experience about this when you feel ready. I would really appreciate if you could send me your link.
 

kj6723

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You and I are about the same. Do you want to lower yours some like me?

No I'm okay with it. It doesn't look high to me, and I'm very self-conscious about my looks. I just want the temple angles to fill in some more
 

DoctorHouse

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No I'm okay with it. It doesn't look high to me, and I'm very self-conscious about my looks. I just want the temple angles to fill in some more
Ok, it makes me feel better. If you can tolerate it so can I.:D
 

IdealForehead

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I see, thanks for the reply. I have to admit that I have done massive research on this surgical procedure today, and I have read some rather strange things that I hope you could elaborate on. First off, I read on multiple forums and websites that people had started to experience extreme balding after the surgery, even one year later - and is this something you were told by the doctors you consulted with? Because this is (almost) the only thing that is holding me back. Some lady had posted pictures of her hair, and I felt extremely sorry for her, considering she had big bald patches spread through her hair. First I thought it was only the scar that could potentially experience this 'shock loss', but perhaps not?

Due to allergies and certain side effects, I would prefer not to take any medications such as Finasteride - and therefore, I am afraid of the balding situation. Don't quote me on this - but this was apparently because once you 'moved' the scalp, it affected the strength of the hair cells negatively (damaging/tension), and therefore - could result in balding in some people.

Also, I'd love if you could answer my last question; how is your forehead skin? Is it particularly 'tighter'? I'm also afraid it will affect my overall face, by removing natural wrinkles in my forehead when smiling and doing certain facial expressions. For example, and not to judge anyone - but you have probably seen these guys and women who has gotten a lot of implants and botox/fillers, where the face just looks completely wiped of any feelings/expressions.

Also, since this is something that I won't be doing in the very near future, I'd love to read your experience about this when you feel ready. I would really appreciate if you could send me your link.

Hair loss after a procedure like this would be one of three things:

1) Telogen Effluvium - this is a fancy term for stress induced temporary hair loss. The surgical procedure, like any physical stress, can trigger a cycle of massive shedding that lasts a few months then resolves.

2) Damaged blood supply - Fleming in particular has numerous techniques to try to maintain good blood flow to the scalp once stretched. He used an ultrasound probe to check the positions of my arteries through my scalp before planning out the cuts. He says he always tries to make the widest "flap" possible to pull forward to help ensure strong blood supply to it, and he is careful not to cut too far back on the head as well.

3) Natural hair loss - Men who get this procedure in particular may just experience natural hair loss after. Most people that get this will get it in their 20s and 30s, and that is also when most men start to notice some corner recession.

I have not had enough time to judge if I will have any significant complications of my surgery. I hope I will not. I trusted my doctor. I consulted with Aharonov first but found him deceptive, uncaring, and arrogant. He didn't seem to truly care, and his surgical plan was poor. Fleming was a different matter. Very caring man who is detail oriented and has been doing this for decades. Great surgical planning and care.

This is what I meant about not going to a butcher.

At the end of the day, though, if you are someone who will not be planning to take hair medications like finasteride if you start balding, then you should not get any procedures done at all.

If you get a transplant and go bald, you will end up with an island of transplanted hair at the front of your head. It will look weird as f***. Plus it will be 50% density, so it won't even look good now.

If you get the forehead reduction and go bald, you will get a linear scar visible.

Neither of these are desirable. So after all, given that most men will bald at some point in their lives, if you won't be planning to treat it very aggressively when that time comes, I would suggest you do nothing, and learn to live with your forehead.
 

hairlineboii

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Hair loss after a procedure like this would be one of three things:

1) Telogen Effluvium - this is a fancy term for stress induced temporary hair loss. The surgical procedure, like any physical stress, can trigger a cycle of massive shedding that lasts a few months then resolves.

2) Damaged blood supply - Fleming in particular has numerous techniques to try to maintain good blood flow to the scalp once stretched. He used an ultrasound probe to check the positions of my arteries through my scalp before planning out the cuts. He says he always tries to make the widest "flap" possible to pull forward to help ensure strong blood supply to it, and he is careful not to cut too far back on the head as well.

3) Natural hair loss - Men who get this procedure in particular may just experience natural hair loss after. Most people that get this will get it in their 20s and 30s, and that is also when most men start to notice some corner recession.

I have not had enough time to judge if I will have any significant complications of my surgery. I hope I will not. I trusted my doctor. I consulted with Aharonov first but found him deceptive, uncaring, and arrogant. He didn't seem to truly care, and his surgical plan was poor. Fleming was a different matter. Very caring man who is detail oriented and has been doing this for decades. Great surgical planning and care.

This is what I meant about not going to a butcher.

At the end of the day, though, if you are someone who will not be planning to take hair medications like finasteride if you start balding, then you should not get any procedures done at all.

If you get a transplant and go bald, you will end up with an island of transplanted hair at the front of your head. It will look weird as f***. Plus it will be 50% density, so it won't even look good now.

If you get the forehead reduction and go bald, you will get a linear scar visible.

Neither of these are desirable. So after all, given that most men will bald at some point in their lives, if you won't be planning to treat it very aggressively when that time comes, I would suggest you do nothing, and learn to live with your forehead.
Thanks for the detailed feedback. However, if I was to do everything I possibly could, in order to treat my scar the very best way, and make it 99% visible - I wouldn't have to worry about the scarring, right? And also, I suppose I could transplant some grafts over scar if it was not to be completely invisible? I have heard a lot about different techniques used today, to completely remove/hide big scars, I suppose that would work?
 

mattj

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@mattj, if you use FUE to implant into the scar will it still look bad? My measurement is about 7.6 cm. I would like to lower my hair line 2 cm. You saw my photos, you think I can get a decent new hairline if I did that with just FUE only? Matt you and I have similar head shapes, what is your measurement just out of curiosity?

Putting grafts into a scar can be effective. I am certain that FUE can produce results on par with FUT, such as this one:


IdealForehead: if you need your hairline brought down by 4cm then aren't you suffering from male pattern baldness? I'm intrigued. So you're one of those unlucky people who were born with a very high forehead? If that is the case then why are you taking "anti-balding meds"?
 

hairlineboii

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Putting grafts into a scar can be effective. I am certain that FUE can produce results on par with FUT, such as this one:


IdealForehead: if you need your hairline brought down by 4cm then aren't you suffering from male pattern baldness? I'm intrigued. So you're one of those unlucky people who were born with a very high forehead? If that is the case then why are you taking "anti-balding meds"?
This is also my case, and I understand why he did it. I was also born with an extremely high hairline, while having a lot of hair and density. That's why I'm looking for other ways to fix this as well.
 

IdealForehead

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Yes i was born with a horribly high forehead. I have never experienced a day of carefree hair in my life. I am hoping i will know what that feels like in a few months when my healing is complete.

I have had mild hair loss which i now have perfectly under control with aggressive drugs. I would use even more aggressive drugs if necessary in the future. So i am not worried about future balding.

OP yes you could try to camouflage the scar if you go bald with lasers. Everyone scars differently so it is unpredictable. If you get transplants into the scar and then go bald you will end up with a line of transplants at the front your head and nothing anywhere else. You will then have to get your transplants removed.

None of this is good surgery for a man who is not prepared to treat his baldness should that day come. Almost all men experience recession with age.
 
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