Question:
I am a 29-year-old male who has always had a big forehead and have worn my hair combed down since my teenage years. I do not think my hairline is changing and there appears to be no family history of baldness. I would like to know if I am a candidate for a hairline lowering procedure or should I have hair transplants?
Answer:
The hairline lowering procedure is usually done on women with hereditary high hairlines/foreheads and no personal or family history of hair loss. There are some males who have the same situation; however we have to be wary of future male pattern baldness and the fact that higher hairlines are more characteristic of a mature male.
The operation can be performed on men in the same manner as for women with outstanding results if there is no tendency for hair loss. One would be committed for a lifetime to a low, full hairline and, if there is no thinning or pattern baldness, the effects should last forever. I tell male patients who are contemplating this that transplants could always be done to maintain the lower hairline in case there was later hair loss. This operation also works well for men who have had transplants and the hairline is higher than optimal.
Whether male, female or someone who has had prior transplants, the key to the candidacy for this operation is a scalp that is loose enough to allow for the amount of hairline lowering that they desire. If one can actually pinch up a fold of the scalp going from top to bottom at the level of the new hairline, the hairline can readily be moved down 2.5 cm and sometimes 3 cm with a simple one-stage operation. Almost any degree of advancement can be achieved with a two-stage operation, the first stage being the insertion of a tissue expander followed by six to eight weeks of stretching of the scalp. No other procedure moves as much hair in as short a period of time and maintains this degree of density.
Posted by Sheldon Kabaker M.D. FACS