Hairline Restoration: Surgical, Cosmetic & Natural Methods

As many as 50 percent of men will notice their hair is receding by age 50. If you’re in that group, you probably already know it’s hard to stop a receding hairline — but what if you could just re-sod it like that dry patch on the lawn? The closest thing we have to that is hairline restoration surgery.

Hairline restoration is a complicated and invasive procedure, and it can be expensive. But it might also be worth it, depending on your needs and how important it is to you to truly restore the look of your hair.

Below, we’ve listed how to transplant, cover-up, treat, and otherwise deal with hair loss and a receding hairline, starting with surgical procedures.

Surgical hair restoration surgery, or hair transplantation surgery, is a surgical procedure in which a doctor enhances or restores your hairline by grafting hair follicles from elsewhere on your body to your head.

Male pattern hair loss (androgenetic alopecia) symptoms are well-known: a bald spot on the crown, thinning at the temples, and a receding hairline pushing back farther and farther — until it disappears forever. 

This surgery fixes these symptoms by taking what are essentially heartier hairs (they’re more resistant to the effects of the male hormone known as dihydrotestosterone or DHT) from your body or the back of your head and using them to replace the now-dead follicles on your scalp.

Today, two hair transplant techniques are commonly used for frontal hairline restoration or restoring an entire hairline: follicular unit extraction (also called FUE) and follicular unit transplantation (known as FUT). 

FUT is considered more efficient and faster than FUE. With FUT, the surgeon removes a strip of donor skin (the area of your body where the hair is harvested from) with donor hair follicles from your body, separates each individual follicle, and then grafts each follicle where they’re needed. It’s a bit messier surgically but faster than other hair transplant options.

With FUE procedures like neograft hair transplants or the ARTAS robotic system, those individual follicles are extracted one at a time from the donor location and grafted directly without the middle step of follicle separation.

FUE takes longer, but it reduces the scope of injury at the donor site, which may mean a lower risk of infection and a faster healing process. Furthermore, this also reduces the amount of scarring at the donor site and makes for less pain after surgery. 

And because the procedure takes one hair at a time, it means that individual hairs can be taken from smaller and more inconspicuous sites for the transplant, rather than large segments that would be left with noticeable scar patterns. 

The type of hair restoration surgery you choose may impact cost and effectiveness — read our blog on FUT vs FUE for more information on these hair loss treatments.

Hairline Restoration Surgery Effectiveness

Both hairline restoration styles are considered effective, assuming everything was done correctly. Transplanting hair follicles is a safe and effective way to restore hair growth and function to an area where pattern hair loss has occurred. 

That said, hairline restoration is still an invasive surgical procedure with a higher likelihood of complications than medication. While infections and rejections are not expected or common outcomes, there are still side effects to consider.

Side Effects of Hairline Restoration Surgery

Let’s talk about the risks of hairline restoration surgery. Short-term effects of restoration surgery may include:

• Ingrown hairs

• Cysts

• Telogen effluvium and similar types of hair loss

• Infection

• Rejection

• Bleeding

Certain conditions and diseases like autoimmune diseases can increase the risks of side effects or complications of hair restoration.

Your healthcare provider will look for signs of disease, inflammation, dry scalp, and redness that might indicate that a hairline transplant might not be effective.

But the truth is that the main concern you face when undergoing this surgery is that your expectations are probably not going to align with what you get for a result. 

Your hair is probably never going to look exactly the way it did before you lost it, and it will have imperfections due to the surgery and the difference in hair textures from your head to your body.

And sometimes (in rare cases), the transplant doesn’t even work at all, leading to wasted follicles, scars, and medical bills with nothing to show for them.

If you’re looking for alternatives to hair restoration surgery, there are plenty of effective and safe (and much less costly) approaches that you should consider. You can talk to a healthcare provider about what might help you.

Non-Surgical Hair Loss Procedures

If you don’t want to go under the knife, there are still treatments and procedures that can help your hair's appearance (and even the regrowth).

The most popular today are: 

• Laser hair growth treatments to encourage new hair growth

• Scalp micropigmentation to mask bald spots and thinning hair

• PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatments to encourage blood flow and healthy function along the scalp

• Microneedling to encourage scalp blood flow and hair growth

• Low-level light therapy is a treatment that uses specific wavelengths of light to target hair loss.

Hair Growth Medications

There are several FDA-approved medications for the treatment of hair loss, including:

• The medication finasteride, which comes in both topical and oral formats, blocks a hormone called DHT, which leads to male pattern baldness 

• Topical minoxidil foam and minoxidil solution promote hair growth by increasing blood flow to the follicles. Studies of minoxidil for receding hairlines show increased hair thickness and volume for many patients when used as directed.Minoxidil is the active ingredient in Rogaine®.

• A combined format, like our topical finasteride & minoxidil spray offers the benefits of both medications.

Hairline Concealers

Are you wary of medical, surgical, or other hairline treatments? Want a little cover-up to diminish that bald spot on the back of the head or fill in some thinning hair? 

There are non-surgical hair replacement and concealing options for you, too, including:

• Wigs

• Hair concealers 

• Toupees 

• Hair replacement systems 

Lifestyle Habits for Healthy Hair

Making changes to your lifestyle can create better conditions for growing hair. 

For your best head of hair, you should make sure that you are:

• Cutting down on stress

• Getting enough sleep and exercise

• Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet

• Getting enough of vitamins A and D and biotin, which are crucial for hair follicle function

Wondering how to restore your hairline? Well, hairline restoration treatment is one way.

Hair restoration surgery is certainly effective, but for many people, there are alternatives out there that probably make more sense — diet and lifestyle changes, certain medications, proper hair care and more.

If you want to handle your thinning hair with a hair transplant procedure, be sure to ask questions, get informed, and then make your choice. Here’s what to remember as you start that search:

• Hair transplants may seem like a one-and-done solution to male pattern baldness, but the process can be invasive and time consuming.

• The process, risks, and out-of-pocket costs may not be worth the benefits.

• If you think going under the knife is the best option, we recommend scheduling a time to talk to a healthcare professional about your hairline concerns first. 

• They’ll help sort out what type of alopecia (AKA hair loss) you have and discuss which treatment options would be best for your individual needs.

Restoring your hairline to its glory days may never be possible, even with the best surgeries. Still, if you’re unhappy with how your hair looks, there are options to change its appearance. Talk to a healthcare professional for more information today.