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This Unexpected Surgery Delivers a Full-Face Refresh With Barely Any Downtime

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This Unexpected Surgery Delivers a Full-Face Refresh With Barely Any Downtime featured image
Photo Credits: Kiselev Andrey Valerevich / Shutterstock

We’re all (very) aware of the power injectable wrinkle reducers and fillers have when it comes to giving the face an almost instant refresh with next to no downtime, but it’s the lesser-known treatments and procedures that really stop us in our tracks and wonder, “Why didn’t we think of that?” (Cinderella surgery, anyone?)

That’s exactly what happened when I came across these before-and-after photos from Beverly Hills, CA facial plastic surgeon Natalie Attenello, MD. The procedure, known as hairline lowering surgery or forehead-reduction surgery, isn’t the most popular out there—in fact, Dr. Attenello says very few surgeons perform it—but it delivers serious confidence-boosting results in the most subtle way possible. 

To learn the ins and outs of the surgery, and to see who the proper candidate is for the procedure, we chatted with Dr. Attenello herself.

NewBeauty: Tell us a little bit about the forehead-reduction surgery.
Dr. Attenello: The hairline lowering or forehead-reduction surgery is a very specialized procedure that few surgeons perform, but it makes a remarkable impact on those patients who have felt self conscious about their forehead their entire lives. The ideal candidate is someone who has had a large forehead naturally, as opposed to a large forehead from a receding hairline.

NB: How long does this procedure take? Does it require anesthesia?
Dr. Attenello: The procedure takes about 90 minutes total under a very light, intravenous anesthesia (similar to Twilight sedation).

NB: What does the procedure itself entail?
Dr. Attenello: First, we take precise measurements of your facial proportions and an understanding of your facial harmony to see what the most appropriate size forehead fits your features naturally. Then we strategically mark out the area and the amount of forehead that we will remove (the amount that the hairline will be lowered).

NB: What is the downtime like?
Dr. Attenello: The sutures will come out in a week, but it’s just a few days before patients feel okay to go back to social settings. The patient won’t necessarily need to cover their hair, but I strongly recommend protecting the area from direct sunlight for the best healing.

NB: Is this surgery a popular procedure in your practice?
Dr. Attenello: This is an extremely popular surgery in my practice, as my mentor, who has since retired, was the surgeon who initially created the surgery. Many of my patients travel to me from out of the state and even country to have the surgery performed.

NB: Do you find the results tend to deliver a younger-looking effect to the face?
Dr. Attenello: The results are phenomenal, in the sense that they are extremely rejuvenating but in the most subtle way possible. Nobody would be able to tell what you did, but just that you look great. Instead of people being drawn to your forehead, because it is the one part that is out of balance, they will instead be drawn to your eyes or your smile once your facial features have been re-harmonized. It can also be used to help reshape an undesired hairline, or a strong widow’s peak.

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