How Long Does It Take for Hair to Grow Back Infront of Ears I Have Lost All Y Hair

Some facelift techniques leave the patient with alopecia or hair loss.  If the hair grows back, it should start happening relatively soon following the procedure.   To prevent such loss, experienced surgeons will plan for hair-sparing techniques.  If hair loss is permanent, micro-grafting of hair can be undertaken to lower the hairline and remove one of the telltale signs that a facelift was performed.

Hi Laura in London,

I'm sorry you are going through this.  It must be very difficult.  I will do my best to help.  

Not having any photos to look at, I can think of two possibilities.  Some surgeons will shave the hair around the sideburn area to make it easier to sew the incision back together, as well as assisting in suture removal at the one week mark.  If the surgeon performed a short scar facelift, there should be an incision horizontally under or within the sideburn hair.  If you can see an horizontal or curved incision extending from the top of ear towards the corner of the eyes, as well as some shaved hair above and below the incision.  If this is the case, then it will take some time for the shaved area to grow back fully.

Another possibility with this type of incision is that there is a lot of tension on the incision below the sideburn, and as the skin stretches, the widening scar does not grow hair, and will appear to be a bald spot within the hair above it and the hair below it.

The other possibility is that the incision is vertical deep inside the hairline directly above the top of the ear.  The incision is intentionally hidden inside the hairline.  Depending on the patient, sometimes there is so much looseness of the cheeks, that as the cheek skin slides back, a significant amount of the side burn hair gets pushed back toward the vertical incision and when the surgeon trims the excess skin, the patient appears to have lost their sideburns.  

I don't know which is the case for you.  

Best,

Dr. Yang

For most people it will take 8 weeks for the hair to grow back, but it can be variable and in some cases hair loss is permanant.

This seems unusual to me.  Likely you just have temporarily interrupted enough blood supply to the hair follicles that they have gone into a "rest" phase.  When that does happen, it is usually the beginning of the next growth cycle that will bring new growth.  In a male, I would likely expect that to occur within 3 to 6 months.

If permanent changes were made to the blood supply, these changes might be permanent.

I would ask you to speak about your concerns with your surgeon.  You'll be more confident with your facial future!

Great question.

Dr. Todd Hobgood

If the skin that has hair bearing folicles is still present in front of your ears (side burns). It should be growing back within a few weeks of a facelift. If it was removed during the surgery it may never grow back. 

  Sadly, no.  The incision placement most likely resulted in the loos of that hair when excess facial skin was trimmed.  This is why experience and aesthetic judgment are the most important factors in choosing your plastic and cosmetic surgeon for a Face Lift, Rhinoplasty, Breast Augmentation or any plastic and cosmetic surgery procedure.

I see patients from other surgeons who come in and have hair loss in front and above the ears this is typical with bad incision placement where they have removed the natural hairline area and reshifted the flaps altering and elevating the natural hairline. This is more commonly seen in women and is a tell tale sign of a bad facelift. It is important to place the incision in the ear and follow in front of the hairline upward so you keep the natural appearance of each patients hair growth. If your case is simply hair regrowth that is temporarily not growing due to the surgery then the hair follicles should return in the next growth cycle. Which would mean you should see hair growth coming in for the next three to six months. I would go in and see your surgeon and discuss your concerns so that he/she may be able to answer your questions and hopefully give you some peace of mind. Best regards!