Is Skull Reduction Surgery Safe?

Q: Dr. Eppley: I would like to ask several things in detail.

I also uploaded my pictures and CT of my head and picture of head of female that I want to have.

First, second and third file uploaded are pictures of my head

And fourth and fifth file is pictures of female’s head that i want to have.

Please see my head pictures and the pictures of a female and give me exact answer about whether the surgery can make me satisfied.

1. Safety and problem of thinner skull after the surgery really matter sir. I heard from many korean plastic surgeons who have Ph.D in plastic surgery said that head reduction is dangerous and there is no way to do that.

I have never seen korean plastic surgeon who perform skull reduction surgery.

So I would like to know how and why it is safe.

And as far as I learn through your website it burs or remove the bone of the head which surrounds and protects a brain.

I really wonder whether this surgery makes skull much thinner weaker and lower the protectional function of the skull from outside physical attack.

And I would like to know whether when it fails  it leaves permanent injury or brain damage.

2. I think to have a much smaller head, temporal, occipital and sagittal reduction in terms of skull reduction to make a female head that I really wants. Please let me know whether the head that I want to achieve is possible by the surgery or not, by objectively considering the female head of the pictures that I uploaded

3. How much the head reduction is possible on sagitally occipitally and temporarily  in mm scale?

4. What is a total cost of surgery that includes everything from surgery cost, hospitalization cost to any other cost that i need to pay.

Thanks. I would like to recieve the answers as soon as possible.

A:Thank you for your skull reduction inquiry and sending your pictures to which I can reply:

1) Your questions about the safety of skull reshaping surgery are common and understandable. A surgeon who has never done this type of craniofacial surgery can not  truly speak for its safety and/or effectiveness but I can. Others may have an opinion but I have extensive experience in actually doing it. Removing the outer cortical layer of the skull does not weaken it in any appreciable way as that is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the total skull’s thickness. The issue is not one of safety but of how effective it can be in terms of the patient’s aesthetic objectives.

2) The critical question in every skull reduction patient is whether it will be effective enough. Just looking at your picture and an ideal female head example does not really tell me much. Both have hair which masks the actually head shape so this information alone doesn’t help much.

3) Without seeing a 3D CT scan of your skull and making measurements (you have only attached a 3D face CT image) I can not say where and how much of the skull bone can be reduced. Temporal reduction is the easiest to comment on because in that skull area it is the muscle that is reduced which  creates the most dramatic change. (posterior temporal muscle is removed and the anterior muscle thinned which produces reductions of at least 5 to 7mms per side)

4) Whether total skull reduction would be effective injections your case I can not yet say. It would take a 3D skull CT and then comparing it to a 3D CT scan of a Korean female to best answer that question.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana