Can a Hair Transplant Be Used to Create a New Hairline?

Surgical hair restoration is created to fill in bald areas that are a result of male pattern baldness. But it does not merely cover up spots. A good hair transplant procedure also emphasizes the importance of the overall aesthetic outcome of the procedure. This involves the distribution of hair grafts, their direction, as well as how the hairline is created.

Hair loss

It is normal for us to lose around 50-100 hairs on a daily basis. This is because our hairs go through different phases of the life cycle. This is our hair’s way of renewing itself. And while some can take years before falling, others tend to wither prematurely.

The hair goes through three stages of the hair cycle. There is anagen or the growth phase, catagen or the transition phase, and telogen or the resting phase. When we say that a hair goes into resting, this is evidenced as hair fall.

When several hairs go into resting phase, this results in excessive hair loss which often leads to baldness and when hair loss takes on a pattern, this is referred to as male pattern baldness. See the figure below.

Male pattern baldness is triggered by a hormone called DHT or dihydrotestosterone. This is actually testosterone that is changed due to an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase. When there is an excessive amount of this hormone in the system, the hair follicles are the first ones to be easily affected. This is when the hair thins and is drawn faster towards its resting phase. As a result, excessive hair loss happens.

It is dubbed as male pattern baldness because the progression of hair loss takes on a definitive pattern. It can appear as a regressed hairline or it could start at the vertex of the head in a circular pattern that can continue to increase in diameter. The condition progresses with its results having the tendency to become more permanent.

Surgical Hair Restoration

Hair transplant is considered by most affected by male pattern baldness to be an ideal treatment. It provides natural-looking results that are long lasting. However, not everyone are ideal candidates for it, with some either apprehensive of invasive measures or they find the treatment rather expensive.

This is expected since the procedure requires the extensive training and the expertise of a doctor to perform such a meticulous surgery. It involves the removal of donor grafts found at back of the scalp to the front portion, which is the area most affected by male pattern baldness. But on top of that, a good hair restoration surgeon also considers the aesthetic outcome. And if your hair transplant involves correcting the appearance of the hairline, its design should be prioritized.

Can a Hair Transplant Be Used to Create a New Hairline?

Deciding on where the new hairline should be is one of the critical aspects in surgical hair restoration. Aside from guiding principles, the surgeon should carefully discuss this with you in addition to extensive evaluation to determine the proper position of the hairline to your face.

There are guidlelines that surgeons follow in creating a hairline alone. First of all, there is the rule of thirds where the face is divided into three equal proportions. This is helpful in creating a center for which the hairline will be created and also to balance your facial features. Surgeons also make sure that the hairline is not designed to be lower than the original one before hair loss started.

A good hair transplant surgeon would also customize the shape of the hairline and come up with a follicle distribution that is also sensitive to those with limited donor area. A hairline is really not a clean line of hair arranged next to each other. The hair follicles are arranged irregularly with variable thickness creating a soft, feathered and subtle hairline.

The surgeon considers your facial contour, gender, ethnicity, age, hair characteristic, your goal and desired outcome. It is important that the surgeon fully undestands the look you are going for. An excellent hairline is one that looks natural and harmonizes with your other facial features.

A poorly fashioned hairline is easily detectable and will only emphasize the fact that you had something done instead of earning compliments. But you also have a responsibility as a patient. It is equally important that you set realistic goals. For example, you don’t request a hairline befitting a 20-year-old if you are already in your 50s. In this matter, doctor-patient agreement is important so that the results you expect can be achievd. With that, optimum satisfaction can be guaranteed.