Can My Small Head Be Made Bigger?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I dont seem to fit the mold as far as the skull reshaping surgeries you have performed but I feel my head is so small. I am a male with a regular bodybuild and a small head. I have been made fun of my entire life. People can be so cruel they automatically make judgments from how I look in the oustide and don’t seem to care about the person inside. I hardly ever want to go outside anymore. I would love to know if there is any hope for me as far as my head size is concerned. I have to tell you my face is completely normal looking only if the top of my head was elongated about half an inch it would make a world of difference. I know if the shape of my skull could be changed my life would get a million times better. I have a few pictures so you can see what I mean.

A: Thank you for sending your pictures and expressing your concerns. Your skull shape concerns as I see them are not uncommon and I have recontoured such skull shapes before. I believe what you are seeing as a small head is a parasagittal front to back deficiency which likely represents a microform of sagittal craniosynostosis. This means that the skull bone has a contour flattening as it tails away from the midline sagittal ridge on both sides. This creates a bit of a peaked skull that is somewhat riangular in shape, making the skull look small and to not have a more rounded shape in the front view. I have seen this numerous times and it can be improved by an onlay cranioplasty that builds up the sides to raise it more to the level of the midline ridge height. I have attached a prediction image of what that result may look like.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana