Hairline Advancement and Rounding (Hairline Advancement)
in McLean, VA
Hairline advancement with hairline rounding or more briefly hairline advancement is a procedure that benefits patients who desire a lower and more rounded hairline in Virginia including McLean, Falls Church, Tysons, Arlington plus the Washington DC area. Multiple studies have shown that a hairline can say a lot about a person’s gender and age. A hairline advancement procedure can give you a well-balanced and youthful looking hairline. It is performed by Dr. Vartan Mardirossian at the Mardirossian Facial Aesthetics fully licensed surgical suite in McLean, VA.
What is Hairline Advancement?
In men, the hairline is about 7 cm above the eyebrows, while in women this distance is 5.5 to 6 cm. Hairline advancement at our practice moves the hairline, or select portions of it, 2 to 5 cm forward. The procedure benefits those patients who have a high forehead and desire a more harmonious look for their faces.
Hairline advancement – before and 2 years after the procedures.
How is the Female Hairline Different from the Male Hairline?
The height of the hairline is not the only distinction between women and men; the shape of the hairline is also different. Women naturally have a more rounded hairline while in men, the hairline has bilateral recessions in the shape of an “M.” The proportions of the male and female face are also slightly different. Assuming that the main subunits of the face are the forehead, the cheeks with the nose and the mouth and chin, the height of the forehead can play an important role in defining the relationship between the subunits. Although there is a debate whether those proportions actually affect facial attractiveness, in men the ratio of the facial subunits is 1:1:1 while in women it is 1:1:0.8. A higher forehead can, therefore, elongate the face and can potentially cause it to be out of proportion.
Am I a Candidate for a Hairline Advancement?
If you feel that your forehead is too high and your hairline has a shape that gives you less attractive look, then you are probably a candidate for a hairline advancement. Patients at risk of hair loss in the future (typically men) may manifest the incision and therefore might not be good candidates for surgical hairline advancement. In our practice, the hairline advancement in a female patient includes hairline rounding as well. This procedure will allow for a 2.5 – 5 cm lowering of the hairline and a rearrangement of the hairline so that the lateral temporal hollows are rounded and eliminated. The hairline advancement performed through the hairline incision can be quite powerful. It often equates to about 6,000 hair transplants. A modification of the hairline advancement developed in our practice can only round the bilateral temporal hollows without an actual advancement of the central hairline in the cases that require only limited intervention. During the consultation, Dr. Mardirossian will determine if you are a good candidate for the procedure and which areas of the hairline would benefit from advancement.
Patient Reviews
“Im 5 months post op and this has been the best decision of my life. I came from a family that didnt believe in plastic surgery but i can remember having depression due to my disfigurements as far back as my teen years. The procedures dr mardirossian gave me have made me smile everyday. Everyone in my life notices how happy i am now. I would recommend him in a second.”
– Raine S.
What Should I Consider Before Hairline Advancement Surgery?
There are several important points that need to be considered prior to the procedure:
- Is the shape of the hairline adequate? It is important to establish if the hairline will be only advanced or if a change in its shape is also necessary.
- Is the patient at risk of losing hair after the hairline advancement is performed? Male patients can be at such risk, and this procedure has to be weighed against other options such as hair grafting. Women are better candidates for this procedure.
- What is the amount of advancement desired by the patient? The amount of advancement desired should be discussed preoperatively and goals are defined in respect of the overall facial aesthetics. An advancement that is too aggressive should be avoided, as well as one that does not meet the patient’s expectations.
How is a Hairline Advancement Performed?
The procedure is performed under intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. The skin at the hairline is incised in a special way that later results in a seamless and predictable healing process and ultimately, in an unnoticeable incision line. Through the incision, we are able to lift and advance the scalp to the desired level. In select cases and where indicated, a forehead and a temple lift can be combined with the hairline advancement. Deep cranial suspension developed by Dr. Mardirossian is used to facilitate and to stabilize the advancement. Despite being performed through fine incisions, the procedure involves manipulation of deep tissues of the face, including important vessels and nerves that move the forehead and collect sensation from your upper face. To avoid unnecessary risks, make sure you trust your face to an expert in the field like Dr. Mardirossian when considering this procedure.
How Do We Camouflage the Hairline Incision?
This is a question that is important to every patient. We take several important steps to improve the healing of the hairline incision to make it virtually invisible when the healing is complete.
A. An irregularly irregular incision that mimics the irregular outline of a natural hairline. Each segment in this palisade is 5 mm or less in length. Breaking up the incision in this way makes it less noticeable as the human eye struggles to perceive incision segments that are less than 5 mm in length on the face. This is a technique we commonly use in our facelift, neck lift, and coronal browlift incisions.
B. An “inclined” or “trichophytic” incision is an incision that transects the hair shafts before their origin from the hair follicle. This allows for hair growth through the incision upon completion of the healing process with further camouflage of the incision. This usually happens 4-5 months postoperatively.
C. Avoidance of wound tension upon closure. The roots of this precaution go back to the very technique and extent of dissection as well as the technique of cranial suspension and closure of the skin flaps during the hairline advancement. This allows for a tension-less closure with the result of a very thin almost hair-thin hairline incision.
D. Multiple layers of closure: We close the wound in 3 separate layers with a special cranial suspension developed in our practice. This guarantees a minimal to no tension on the wound.
E. The skin is closed with fine bio-inert suture material. We choose the thinnest possible suture that is also best tolerated by the skin for our closures. We tend to remove the hairline incision sutures 10-14 postoperatively when the healing is complete.
What is the Recovery Like After Hairline Advancement?
After the surgery, you will have a soft dressing applied to the forehead. The dressing will be removed the day after the surgery and an Ace bandage will be applied, which should remain in place for up to seven days. While pain is mild, there may be some swelling in the first 24 to 48 hours post-surgery. The discomfort can be easily managed with prescribed pain medications or over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications. You will need to be cautious about washing and brushing the hairline following your procedure. Under the shower, you should be massaging the hair toward the hairline incision and not away from it. Towel dry the hairline area and brush hair backward with care. If you are going to blow-dry your hair, be sure to use the coolest setting.
Contact Mardirossian Facial Aesthetics today to schedule a consultation with Dr. Vartan Mardirossian, M.D., F.A.C.S., to see if this procedure is the right solution for you. We offer hairline advancement to the patients in Virginia including McLean, Falls Church, Tysons, Arlington plus the Washington DC area.