Do I Need Two Surgeries For Temporal Reduction?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am planning to have temporal reduction surgery sometime in the future, but I have a question: will the result be long-lasting? Will I need a second surgery in the long term? Is it possible to avoid the need for a second surgery? I read on your website that: “however, due to the limitations of the incision, the surgery does not extend much into the anterior and thicker portion of the muscle covering the fossa concava. Although most patients do not require treatment in this area, a small degree of residual fullness may persist. In my experience, this is the main reason why a second procedure may be requested”. I would prefer not to have a second surgery; would a single surgery be sufficient?

A:In answer to your temporal reduction surgery questions:

1) The vast majority of temporal reduction patients only need one surgery and it is rare that ever need a second stage.

2) The reason being is that whether management of the anterior muscle portion needs to be done is determined initially and is then incorporated into the primary procedure as an anterior muscle transposition and posterior muscle removal.

3) In rare cases the patient may only initially feel that they need only the posterior segment treated and then they may choose to have the anterior muscle reduced secondarily. But again, this is rare because these are issues we discuss initially and it was usually pretty obvious from the beginning whether both muscle segment need to be treated.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Plastic Surgeon