Should I Have Forehead Contouring Surgery To Reduce My Forehead Bulge?

Q: I wrote you a couple of months ago about the possibility of undergoing a forehead contouring surgery to address my possible forehead bulging, to which you asked me to provide you with pictures. This is want I would like to do now and i have attached some forehead pictures for you to review. I don’t know whether the bulge is created by my high hairline or if it is just the way my forehead is. Basically, as previously stated, I would like to know if the problem is a high hairline or a protruding forehead, or both. At any rate, I would like to hear your surgical recommendations, or lack thereof!

A: Thank you for sending your pictures. I think there is some degree of a mild amount of forehead bulging that is accentuated by a higher hairline. Given the mild problem and the resultant scalp scar to improve it, I would not recommend any surgical modification. While it can certainly be done, the scalp scar in a male is a major limiting factor. This would not be such a rate-limiting step for surgical treatment in a female.  I have looked at hundreds of male candidates over the years for cosmetic forehead contouring and brow bone reductions and could only ever justify surgery on about 2% to 3% of them.The magnitude of the forehead problem has to justify the trade-off of the scar to do it.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana