Woman 'self-conscious' over 9cm forehead shares transformation after £5k surgery 'changes life'
A woman who felt 'self-conscious' about the size of her 9cm forehead has spoken about how her surgery has impacted her life.
Mum Chloe Walker, from Essex, UK, said she's gone through thousands of bottles of hairspray over the years to stop her fringe from falling out of place and revealing her forehead.
"I've always been self-conscious all my life, to be honest. I probably didn't really notice the way I looked until I was like 10 or 11. I got a fringe put in, and it gave me confidence," she said.
The 34-year-old lived in constant fear that her forehead would be exposed, either by a gust of wind or getting wet, as she added: "It got to the point where I was too uncomfortable to go swimming with my kids anymore.
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"People are uncomfortable about what they might look like in a swimsuit, I was just worried about if my hair got wet, if my head was on show."
Stressing how bad it got for her, the mum-of-two confessed that she used to 'edit' her photos to make her forehead look smaller.
"It was taking over my life to the point where I would try to edit the size of my head on my photos. I'd try to shrink it," she added. "Even family photoshoots that we've had done. I've edited them and got them printed.
"I got married about three years ago, and I still haven't printed my wedding photos. I need to touch them up again. My fringe was stuck to my head, so you couldn't really tell.
"I wish I did the surgery before then."
Chloe said she'd initially considered getting a hair transplant to bring her hairline forward; however, she decided against it as she was concerned it might fail, as well as take a few years for her hair to grow back.
The mum then eventually decided to undergo a £5,000 forehead reduction operation in Notting Hill, London, on 14 July.
Post-surgery, the quantity surveyor worker said she 'instantly feels happier when I wake up' after her forehead was shrunk by 2.5cm to 6.5cm.
"[Since the op] I feel free. I feel like I can walk down the street and I'm a free person," Chloe said.
"I am just looking forward to playing with my kids and letting them splash me without worrying, putting my sunglasses on my head, brushing my hair back."
She has since documented her journey on TikTok to 'help other people who may feel the same as me' and says that she sometimes receives nasty comments from people saying her forehead is still big.
"That has bothered me but then I think, 'I know I've had 2.5cm removed so there's not much they could have done and I need to accept this is me now'," she said.
"I have had people say horrible things like, 'oh if I haven't got any paper, I'll just write my essay on Chloe's head.' I've been called 'spam-head'.
"Sometimes I look at myself and think, 'oh my god, it's still really big' but I'm thinking, 'no it's smaller than what it was. I need to just embrace who I am now'."
Anish Vij