Will my hairline be changed by having a facelift incision that extends high into the temple area?

Hello,Let's be real. You're not a plastic surgeon, but you put two and two together. So many of my colleagues saying 'possibly', 'maybe', 'could be', etc; it's a shame. The real answer is absolutely. There is no need to have the incision plunge into the temporal hair bearing scalp, which would absolutely bring the temporal hairline and side burn back and up (the 'windswept' look). Incisions that go around and just in front of the sideburn and temporal hairline heals inconspicuously and does not alter hairline position. Find a surgeon who makes this more modern adjustment. 

Great question.  Unfortunately you did not provide photographs to help with the answer - but the plastic surgeon will evaluate your hairline, density of your hair and degree of laxity of your facial skin excess to determine how the procedure will effect your hairline.  If there would be too much loss of hairline, than a pre hairline incision may be chosen.Usually the incision is not creating difficulties and the incision is carried north of the top of your ear.

The hairline will be brought forward in that area as the tension from the lifting will pull your hairline in that direction.

Thank you for your question.  The hairline will always have some changes with a facelift.  In the sideburn area, the goal is to avoid moving the sideburn so far that it appears abnormal.  This can be done in two ways.  First, in patients with a strong sideburn, the incision is made behind it.  Even though it will shift a bit, the scar is hidden and the sideburn still looks normal.  In patients with a weak or strong sideburn, or in patients who have had a previous facelift, the incision is made at the edge of the hairline.  It takes longer for this to heal, but the sideburn is unchanged and the hair can be worn back once the scar has faded.  You can see both of these incision in my gallery.  

Thank you for your smart question! An incision that goes into the temporal hairline will either change the hairline or will give you a less than possible correction in the mid-face/orbital region. At our practice, we hide your incisions in the nooks and crannies around your ear, sideburn, and posterior hairline. We ultimately engineer these incisions so that your hair grows directly through them, rendering them practically invisible after you heal. Hope this helps!

A number of different incisional approaches are used to perform facelifts. A surgeon can vary the placement ot the incisions to adjust the location of the hairline, or prevent it from being moved. Incisions placed in the temporal hairline by definition will tend to move the temporal hairline back. An incision can be made in front of the top of the ear extending forward to minimize this affect, or if one desires to keep the hairline in its natural location,the incision can be placed at the hairline. This has an excellant cosmetic appearance and is particularly useful in patients who wear their hair forward, covering it.

If the incision is extended straight up in to the temporal area, your hair line is bound to change! To avoid this I tend to do the incision along the hair line, so that there is no change is the position of the patient's side locks. For optimal outcome please consult a board vertified plastic surgeon.

It depends on whether the incision is going to be at the hairline or behind the hairline. If the incision is at the hairline your hairline should not change. Otherwise it will. If it is behind the hairline your hairline will change.

When facelift incision are extended into the scalp and temple, various hairline shifts can occur, depending on how the incisions are designed. The hairline can also be pulled backward, making the temple look larger, distorted. Such shifts may be noticeable, so incisions should be designed to avoid them. Furthermore, excess pulling or rotation of the skin at the temple can change the direction of the crow's feet skin creases, producing a noticeable, surgical appearance. Your surgeon should be happy to discuss these issues with you. Good luck.

There are a number of different ways plastic surgeons deal with the issue you mentioned.  Redoing many facelifts over the years I’m familiar with a lot of mistakes I think some surgeons make. One common thing I have noticed is that the cheek is pulled too vertically instead of straight back.  This results in raising the sideburn so that there is really no sideburn left.  Attention to detail such as this is really important to getting a natural result and the surgeon needs to have a keen aesthetic sense to avoid poor results.  You would think such things would be obvious but that’s not always the case.