Will Forehead Tissue Expansion Fix An Overdone Hairline Lowering?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello doctor! I had hairline surgery 6 months ago and I feel my hairline is too low and doesn’t match my facial proportions. I’ve read your answers about using tissue expanders to reverse a hairline that’s been lowered too much. However, I’ve also read some studies that say that after the tissue expanders are removed, the loose skin on the forehead will sag, wrinkle, and droop down towards the eyes and eyebrows, and won’t be able to retract or lift the hairline on its own. There’s also a risk of scarring, permanent facial paralysis, and disfigurement. Could you please clarify this for me? I really want to know where the tissue expanders would be placed in this case: the scalp with hair, the forehead area, or between the previous surgical scars?

 Thank you.

A:None of the complications that you have described for forehead tissue expansion are ones that I have ever seen so I am not sure where you are getting your information.

In forehead tissue expansion for a hairline that has been moved too low the tissue expander must be placed into the forehead and not the scalp as it is the forehead skin that needs to be expanded. You would not use the existing hairline incision s is that is counter productive and all the tissue expansion would do would be to cause postoperative incision separation/widening. The tissue expander is placed through  small incisions in the temporal hairline.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Plastic Surgeon