Should I Have A Forehead Hairline Lowering Or A Hair Transplant?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in getting my hairline as well as my forehead bone reduced. I was wondering do you also reduce the brow bone as well as the area below them and above the nose? I think it’s called the glabella and the bone around the eye socket. Do you do hair transplant procedures too? Do you think I should have my hair line lowered first or get my hair transplant before?

A: There is no question that if you were going to do both a hairline lowering/scalp advancement and hair tranplants, you would always do the hairline advancement first. It would be counterproductive to do hair transplants first and those would need to be cut out for the hairline lowering. Hair tranplants are used after hairline advancement to hide either the hairline scar better or to lower the frontal hairline further than what the scalp advancement can achieve. Whether the brow or lateral orbital rim (eye socket) is reduced with a forehead reduction depends on two factors. First what does the patient want to achieve. Would reducing those areas be aesthetically beneficial? It is really up to the patient to determine if that is needed to get the look they are after. Secondly, what is the thickness of the brow bone over the frontal sinuses. Is it thick enough to allow enough burring to make an external visible change? That can be determined by a simple skull x-ray beforehand.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana