How Can The Dent In My Skull Be Fixed?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I read about your method of skull surgery. I am a young man with male pattern hair loss. Since no real cure is available I think I should just cut it very short or even shave it. The problem is that I have a skull indentation. I have never heard of this treatment. Should I go to a plastic surgeon or to a neurosurgeon to get some advice on this matter? Since I deliberately do not cut my hair that short for it to be noticeable I could not take a picture of it where you would be able to see it. I have attached a picture of a human skull and circled the area. It is an oval shaped indentation about 2″ long or thereabout and slightly less wide. It is at the part of the skull that is bending towards the top of the head. For this reason it is noticeable even though it does not appear to be a very deep indentation. I hope you are able to get a general idea of what I am talking about.

A: The relatively small skull indentation that you have is ideal for the minimal incision/injectable cranioplasty technique. Using Kryptonite bone cement, it is injected into the indented skull area after the scalp has been elevated. This is done through a very small incision of less than 10mms. Once the cement is injected in a putty state, it is molded from the outside until it sets firm, a process that takes about ten minutes from injection to set time. The trick to this technique is to get a smooth result that is not overcorrected.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana