Young women risk lifelong scarring and permanent hair loss by following TikTok-inspired forehead reduction surgery to “balance facial proportions,” experts warn
- The operation cuts the woman’s scalp and pulls the hairline forward
- Nearly 44 million people watched clips featuring surgery on TikTok
Young women are at risk of lifelong scarring and permanent hair loss from undergoing cosmetic procedures that lower their hairlines, experts warn.
The procedure, which costs between £5,000 and £7,000 in the UK and was originally intended to treat men with receding hairlines, has been widely promoted on social media by cosmetic companies and former patients. Confidence’.
The procedure involves crossing the woman’s scalp and pulling the hairline forward.
Online advertisements promise patients a full recovery in a week with no visible scars. On her TikTok, a video-sharing app, clips of women with altered hairlines have amassed her 44 million viewers.
Joanna Gawor, 29, underwent hairline lowering surgery to reduce the size of her forehead to boost her confidence.
Gawor had significant swelling after surgery and needed urgent care
But experts say that when the skin is pulled too tight, it limits the supply of blood and oxygen to the face, causing skin tissue to die and hair to fall out.
“In extreme cases, if the surgery is done poorly, the dead tissue becomes infected, and the infection spreads under the skin and spreads to the rest of the scalp,” says facial plastic surgeon Dr. Greg Brun. It leads to persistent hair loss, chronic pain, and persistent patches of infection.”
According to Dr. Bran, who operates at his Harley Street clinic, more and more patients need corrective surgery after a failed job.
“Some doctors jump on this trend even though they don’t understand the anatomy of the face, and patients suffer,” he says.
Midwife Joanna Gawor, 27, paid £1,300 for treatment in Poland in October 2021. she said: I knew the surgery would leave a scar, but the doctor promised me that her hair would grow back to cover it.
When Joanna woke up from surgery, her forehead was swollen and painful.When the dressing was removed, some of the scars turned black and the skin began to peel off.She was suffering from necrosis. – The blood supply to the tissue is cut off, causing the tissue to rot and die. She says: “I was left with a huge red scar and lost all the hair on my forehead.”
On TikTok, many patients seem happy with the results. One woman revisited a procedure she did a month ago and said she “loves” the changes. “She feels like she’s 18 again!” she says to the camera. Another patient called Madison wrote on her Instagram: It’s been about a month since the surgery and I can’t even see the scars.
Hairline lowering surgery was developed in the late 1990s to treat hair loss in men. It has also been used for gender reassignment surgery over the past decade, but experts say its explosion in popularity is due to fake images on Instagram and TikTok. “Photographs and videos by doctors have changed what young women see as the perfect female face,” says Dr. Blanc.
“I used to have one to two hairline surgeries every month. Over the past year, that has increased to at least two every week.
During the three-hour operation, the surgeon cut a band of skin below the hairline on the forehead. A small hole drilled into the skull allows metal implants to anchor the bone to the skin when the bone is pulled forward. Then the wound is sewn up. Dr Greg Williams, Hair Restoration Specialist at Farjo Hair Institute in London, says: It can also be a different color than the skin on your forehead – you’ll need a fringe to hide it.
“Surgeons have to be very skilled at hiding scars.
In May, Joanna underwent corrective surgery with Dr. Bran to remove the scar and realign her hairline. “The scars are barely noticeable. It’s been a long road, but I’m happy with my results in the end.
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