Will Temporal Bone Reduction Be Effective?

Q: Dr. Eppley,Thank you for getting back to me. I truly appreciate your team’s time, as I know that Dr. Eppley is renowned in his field and ahead of the curve. I have one last question for him, so that I can consider my options and then decide which one I want to schedule a consultation for. My question is: Is it possible to do a bone reduction by itself, without doing a temporal reduction, or is it necessary to do the temporal reduction first, to get to the bone?

A: When it comes to temporal reduction, if the intent is to reduce the width or convexity of the side of the head, the most significant effect come from muscle removal and also can be done in a scarless manner from an incision placed behind the ear. If one wants to do temporal bone reduction this requires an incision up on the side of the head. That more visible scar tradeoff and the negligible effect that temporal bone reduction has due to its thinness (1 to 2mms only) is why temporal bone reduction by itself has little benefit and is not usually done as a standalone procedure or before muscle removal is done. This doesn’t mean it can’t be done but is not an effective head width reduction technique in my experience.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana