Let's talk hairlines

7
u/sitta-pusilla
Tue Apr 16 17:12:34 2019 UTC
(18 comments)

I've been consulting with surgeons for FFS and by and large the ones I've spoken with so far have agreed on the areas of my face that surgery would help: brow reconstruction, orbital contouring, trachea shave, rhinoplasty, lip lift, and a slight chin reduction/contouring. The one point of divergence concerns my hairline. VirtualFFS assessment and Mardirossian said my hairline height was good and they would do a coronal approach, and that my temples could be filled in to round the hairline. DiMaggio and Cardenas said it should be slightly lowered using a hairline incision, as well as rounded. I'll be consulting with Keojampa and Facial Team soon and suspect they will fall into the coronal incision camp.

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If I go by the guidelines in this article , I have a very female typical hairline height, measured at 5.5 cm from the glabella. I also tend to agree with Alexandra Hammer's views in her FFS Thesis . Anecdotally I've noticed more cis women have higher hairlines than me rather than lower. I suspect it won't really help with passing to have it lowered 1/2 a cm, and am worried about a visible scar.

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So I guess what I'm wondering...is this just a matter of aesthetic preferences based on cultural beauty standards (i.e. a lower hairline is seen as prettier in latin america), or do latin american women have lower hairlines than a typical white north american, or are these surgeons just more comfortable with a hairline approach, or what? Is it always better to go with a coronal approach if you don't need your hairline advanced (though it's possible this could raise the hairline distance slightly...say from 5.5 to 6.0 cm)? Or is someone who goes from a 5.5 cm distance to a 5.0 cm distance actually read as more female typical? Will that 1 cm of hairline height make any difference?

all 18 comments


3
u/hrt_breaker
Tue Apr 16 17:54:16 2019 UTC
(4 children)

Wow, I'd really like to see where you're at bc that's pretty much what I want done.

I'm starting with my hairline, and I'm just getting the temples filled in. None of the surgeons proposed lowering the hairline. I'm glad bc my face is longer (f*** u testosterone) and lowering it would create a major imbalance.

So, I'd probably vote for that.

3
OP
Tue Apr 16 17:58:03 2019 UTC
(3 children)

I have some pictures posted here but they are of me with makeup and not what I would show a surgeon. I can dm what I'm showing surgeons if you're interested (the fun unflattering pics!).

2
Tue Apr 16 18:15:44 2019 UTC
(2 children)

Oh, I've seen you before. I looked and was all, I know that pretty face!

Yeah, I double down on not lowering the hairline, just do the temples.

2
OP
Tue Apr 16 18:18:08 2019 UTC
(1 child)

My thoughts too. It is helping me narrow down surgeons.

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I'm still curious about the overall concept and how surgeons make that call.

1
Tue Apr 16 18:24:44 2019 UTC
(0 children)

Me too, curious what others have to say

There are bad surgeons who sell procedures that aren't needed, hope that's not what's going on from the others.

3
u/throwawaytoday9q
Tue Apr 16 18:38:52 2019 UTC
(4 children)

This is very much a matter of personal preference.

FWIW, Alexandra also told me that my high hairline is fine but I don't agree with her so I'm getting it lowered anyway.

The incision through the hairline could hide the scar but be sure to ask about complications. Sometimes there's hair loss around the scar due to the interrupted blood supply and tension on the wound. If you end with hair loss around both sides of the scar it's going to look really weird.

Also, keep in mind that just because a surgeon recommends something in consult doesn't mean you have to do it. You can still go to a surgeon who recommended hairline advancement and just not do it, or vice versa.

1
OP
Tue Apr 16 18:51:55 2019 UTC
(3 children)

Yeah I understand that I can tell them to do it a certain way despite their initial recommendation. I'm just confused that the opinions I'm being given are mixed, particularly because I've never thought my hairline was too high but now I'm unsure.

1
Tue Apr 16 18:56:07 2019 UTC
(2 children)

Different surgeons have different aesthetic preferences. I wouldn't expect them to agree on everything, especially if a feature is borderline.

Ultimately you'll have to decide.

1
OP
Tue Apr 16 19:05:42 2019 UTC
(1 child)

Yeah I guess I'm going to try some mockups with changing my hairline. I have the ones from VirtualFFS and did not think it looked manly (she simulated a slightly higher hairline due to a coronal approach).

My chin is also a borderline area that surgeons have suggested different approaches to (burring or osteotomy).

2
Tue Apr 16 19:08:42 2019 UTC
(0 children)

You might try wearing a wig and see if it looks better sitting at or below your natural hairline.

3
u/AlatarielArtanis
Tue Apr 16 19:09:39 2019 UTC
(1 child)

If you already have a low hairline, I wouldn't risk the visible scar of a hairline incision.

I also have a low hairline and I had forehead surgery and hair transplants with Facial Team four weeks ago. It's too early to really judge the results, but the coronal approach has raised the center of my hairline by maybe 0.5 cm. It's 6 cm now, I think it was 5.5 before, certainly not less. In my opinion, the difference is too small to be noticeable. Especially as the hair transplant completely changed the shape of my hairline (well, it will once it has all grown in in a year or so).

1
Tue Apr 16 19:09:52 2019 UTC
(0 children)

6 cm is 2.36 inches

2
u/[deleted]
Wed Apr 17 01:07:21 2019 UTC
(2 children)

I've seen so many potentially great FFS results ruined by the hairline being lowered too much. At 5.5cm, you're already at a completely female range. In fact, I'd say you're closer to the lower end for the typical female forehead height if anything. I wouldn't do it.

Scroll down and read about the lipuhai rule: http://www.virtualffs.co.uk/My_Facial_Feminisation_Thesis_Part_5_Relative_Proportions.html

1
Wed Apr 17 04:14:28 2019 UTC
(1 child)

Do you have links to any examples?

1
Fri Apr 19 08:10:15 2019 UTC
(0 children)

Not of the top of my head, I've just seen some surgeons pulling the hairline too low on some people over the years. I was curious about the "lipuhai rule", and tested it on a bunch of "male face" and "female face" pictures I found on google. The results seemed to line up a majority of the time, so I stand behind virtual ffs's theory.

1
u/TragicNut
Fri Apr 19 23:52:17 2019 UTC
(2 children)

I had surgery with Rossi recently, and had a relatively high hairline (and a large forehead) to begin with (I don't have a number, probably about 7cm?) along with some recession at the temples. He seems to favour a hairline incision approach as it generally results in a better brow lift outcome, though he can do the coronal approach when needed.

I had the same concern about visible scarring, so I planned on doing hair transplants post-op to bury the incision and fill in the temples. My post-op hairline was about 6 cm above the glabella in the middle with a bit of closure at the temples. I had the hair transplants ~1.5 weeks post-op, and my new hairline should be about 5.5 cm above the glabella once the transplants grow in (and with a nice curve to it instead of recession.)

1
Sat Aug 13 02:52:28 2022 UTC
(1 child)

How’d the scar heal

3
Sat Aug 13 12:24:54 2022 UTC
(0 children)

Not as well as I'd hoped for. I ended up with some wound separation so I have a scar that's a few millimeters wide instead of a thin line. My suspicion is that doing the transplants so soon after surgery put too much strain on the scar for my body.

Having said that, having the transplants in front of it does allow me to hide it pretty effectively. But my hairline feels a bit too low by about the width of the scar. Sigh.

TL;DR: I'd like to have waited longer between surgery and getting the transplants done.