The stigma of having an overly long face or sections of the face that impact harmony of facial dimensions is apparent in trending procedures such as forehead reductions, with patients going to great pains to achieve an aesthetically pleasing facial morphology. Having a long-face morphology is frequently associated with aesthetic concerns, with surgery being required to correct the excess length of the upper, middle and lower thirds of the face as well as the frontal plane. Correcting the length of the face along the midline alone, however, does not result in complete harmony of facial dimensions. A study in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (March 2023) presents a new approach to correcting excess length in long-face morphology through the use of additional measurements in the frontal, lateral and oblique views as well as hair transplantation to reduce hairline measurements.
Related: The Risks of Forehead Reduction Surgery
Surgical Approach
The study included 83 patients who underwent surgery to correct excess length in long-face morphology. Prior to surgery, researchers recorded their facial measurements, including the upper, middle and lower thirds of the face in addition to the length of the face along the midline. Four additional distances were also measured along the oblique and lateral views, two of these being measurements from the infratemporal hairline to the chin and the sideburn to the chin. After obtaining these detailed measurements, the surgery involved the lowering of the patients’ midfrontal hairlines and shortening of the distances from the infratemporal hairline and sideburn to the chin.
Facial Harmony & Symmetry
Patients and the surgeon then evaluated the results using a five-point Likert scale. The average Likert score from patients was 4.5 (range of 3 to 5) and the average Likert score from the surgeon was 4.9 (range of 3 to 5). None of the patients experienced adverse side effects and only three required a touch-up procedure to increase hair density. The study concluded that this new approach to correcting excess length in long-face morphology greatly improved facial harmony and symmetry.
