Am I A Good Candidate For Temporal Reduction For My Wide Head?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Would I be a good candidate for head width reduction? I have all my life alway disliked and had insecurities with my bulbous wide shaped head. I cannot wear sunglasses because i look silly being the sides of my head Protrude further out than my sunglasses (especially the left side) and in photos my head always looks odd shape due to my light bulb shaped head. My goal would be to have a more symmetrical straight and less bulbous sides of my head. 

Is this surgery safe and why do more surgeon not offer this procedure? What is the down time for this procedure? 

I was told by local plastic surgeons they would not attempt this and is risky and would not remove temporal muscles being there can be issues later with chewing etc. 

I can feel the sides of my head and I definitely can feel that above the ear it is protruding bone although i do have very thick temporal muscles more towards the upper side part of head on side of forehead. Would you be able to shave some of the bone as well? 

Please provide your professional opinion i would definitely look to get this done if its safe and me being a good candidate.

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your picture. Temporal reduction by posterior muscle removal is a very safe and effective procedure. Because the muscle makes up a significant amount of the side of the head, there is almost never a need to remove any bone. And because of the added incision length up along the side of the head to do so, the small amount of bone that can be removed is not worth that scar tradeoff. Removal of the muscle makes dramatic change in the shape of the side of the head alone.

Contrary to what you have heard by other doctors (who have never performed the procedure or know anything about it), removal of this muscle causes no chewing or mouth opening/closing issues.

In looking at your picture, you are a good candidate for the procedure. The amount of potential contour change is seen in the attached prediction image. It is clear that the muscle on one side is nearly twice as thick as that of the other side.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana