How short can I cut hair after facelift?

Facelift incisions can be variable depending on the surgeon and the amount of laxity/sagging that you may have. However, most experienced facelift surgeons will hide your incisions in and around your ears and into the scalp.  They will also come up high, behind the ear, to have a minimal transition zone behind your ear to the scalp. This allows the incisions to heal very nicely and the scars to be imperceptible, even in men with very short hair.  It is important to note that people will heal differently and while most people have minimal visibility, there are very rare exceptions. 

This is a very good question.  The answer depends to some extent on the individual surgeon, their choice in incision placement, their technique, the patients healing process.  Most standard facelift incisions are placed below the temporal hair line, then hidden in front of the ear, around the earlobe, continued behind the ear and then finished along the hairline or into the hair line behind.  Occasionally the anterior incision is hidden in the temporal tuft of hair.  With meticulous technique and careful postoperative incision care and sun protection, the scars can heal imperceptibly.  To some extent the scar camouflage relies on the presence of some hair in front and behind the ears. Even in patients with the most severe hair loss (such as a Norwood stage 7) the horse shoe of hair that remains typically covers the strategic areas that most surgeons use to camouflage their facelift incisions in front and behind the ear.  



To answer your specific question for the scars behind the ears - those that extend into the hair bearing scalp can be well hidden with hair as short as 3/8s of an inch long.  If you do shave the hair at the site of the scar, even with the best surgical technique, a faint white line may be visible.