Hairline lowering — it shortens the forehead, and the scar sits right in front of the hairline

Hairline lowering advances the scalp and fixes it so the hairline comes down. The forehead ends up shorter. It is also called forehead reduction.

The first thing that belongs on this page is not about the operation.

If your hairline is currently receding, this operation is not for you.

Even advanced and fixed, a receding hairline keeps receding. What then remains is the scar where it was pulled to, and that scar comes out beyond the hair. Telling whether a high forehead is simply how you are built or is hair going back is the first question of this operation.

That distinction is made in a consultation. This site has a hair loss page and a minoxidil page.

Now the technique.

An incision is made along the hairline, the scalp is advanced, a strip of forehead skin is removed, and it is fixed in place. How far it can come down in one operation depends on how much the scalp will stretch, which differs between people.

There is another way — a hair transplant, placing follicles in front of the existing line to move it forward. The two are different in kind.

• hairline lowering — can bring it down a long way at once, and leaves a scar as a line
• hair transplant — scarring is scattered as points, but it takes several sessions and time to grow

Which suits you is decided together by forehead height, scalp laxity, whether hair loss is present, and which kind of scar you can accept.

The scar sits right in front of the hairline. It is the most important fact about this operation. When it goes well, hair growing forward blurs the line — but it can show when the hair is pulled back. It is in the middle of the forehead, with nowhere to hide.

Hair can fall along the incision. Most grows back, but what does not leaves the line bare and the scar more visible.

Sensation in the scalp and forehead dulls. Feeling like somebody else's skin for months is common, and some can persist.

Advanced tissue can relax back a little over time.

If hair loss progresses, the result collapses. It is the worst scenario for this operation, which is why it has to be checked beforehand.

There is a limit to how far it can come down in one operation. Going further means placing a tissue expander first, which makes it two operations.

It runs in the opposite direction to a brow lift. A brow lift pulls the scalp backwards to raise the brows, which can make the forehead higher. If you are considering both, that conflict has to be resolved first.

Check for hair loss first. Family history, whether the shape of the hairline has changed over recent years, what the crown looks like. This one thing decides whether the operation applies to you.

Ask to have scalp laxity measured. How far it can come down in one go is decided by that. Ask for the amount as a number.

Discuss it alongside a hair transplant. The two differ in scar, in time taken, and in how far they can move the line. Do not decide having heard only one.

Say in advance if you tie your hair back. It changes the conditions under which the scar shows.

Not smoking matters. This operation lifts and fixes the scalp, so blood supply at the edge decides the result, and smoking raises the risk of hair falling along the incision.

Do not wash or brush hard for some weeks after surgery.

Settle when to start scar care in consultation.

It cannot be undone. Removed forehead skin does not come back, and the scar stays.

Whether you can accept the scar is the central question of this operation. Unlike other facial operations on this site, here there is nowhere for it to hide. We wrote the same on eye-corner surgery and breast reduction.

Hair loss can also appear later. Not receding now is no guarantee about later. If it runs in the family, put that possibility into the calculation.

Check first how much forehead height carries in the impression. In front of a mirror, bring your hair down with your hand to cover the forehead. See whether that change is what you want.

Some of this is solved by how the hair is worn. This site does not write about which foreheads look better, but we do suggest putting an irreversible decision and a reversible approach side by side.

Whether to have it is decided in consultation, and it is better not to decide from one clinic's account.