a day ago
I spent £5,000 on surgery to reduce the size of my forehead- here's what I look like now
A mother felt so self-conscious about her hairline that she spent £5,000 on surgery to reduce her forehead.
Chloe Walker, from Hornchurch, Essex, had always been insecure about the size of her forehead and kept it covered with a fringe since she was around 10 years old.
The 34-year-old thinks she's gone through thousands of bottles of hairspray over her lifetime as she desperately tried to keep the fringe in place.
The mother-of-two said she was living in constant fear that a gust of wind would expose her head and eventually decided to splash out on a £5,000 forehead reduction op in Notting Hill, London.
Chloe, who works as a quantity surveyor, said her forehead was 9cm prior to surgery on 14 July and it is now just 6.5cm.
Chloe, said: 'It has changed my life. I instantly feel happier when I wake up. 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.
'It got to the point where I was too uncomfortable to go swimming with my kids anymore.
'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.
'I want them to remember me as a mum who went swimming with them, went underwater and didn't care.
'Or a mum who wasn't worrying if she didn't have her cap when she went for a walk or a mum who didn't freak out if her hair was blown in the wind.
'[Since the op] I feel free. I feel like I can walk down the street and I'm a free person.
'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.
The mother admitted she would even edit photos to make her forehead appear smaller.
Chloe said: '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.
'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. I was stressing about it on my wedding day. There was a lot of hairspray on my head. It didn't move.
'I've gone through thousands of bottles of hairspray over 20 years.
'I made sure my photos were on one side so you don't see the other side. I was very self-aware of my angles.'
Chloe said she had considered a hair transplant to bring her hairline forwards but was worried it could fail and said it could take a few years for the hair to grow back.
She has now taken to TikTok to share her surgery story and document her recovery in the hopes her story will help others who are struggling with their appearance.
Chloe said: 'I wanted to help other people who may feel the same as me.
'When I was looking to get this done I kept seeing before and afters but I didn't hear anyone's story, how they felt and the recovery side of it.
'A lot of people are saying my forehead is still big and there's no difference.
'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.'
'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.'
'I was getting to the point where I was a bit self-conscious to go out as much so I needed something instant. I was shutting myself away.'
