In the past decade, attending almost every meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), I have witnessed topics of growing interest. I believe that temple restoration or also known as temporal point restoration has become a very major part of creating aesthetically pleasing and balanced hairline work.

As mentioned in previous articles, the temple must per force be transplanted when the anterior hairline is aggressively transplanted and the temple hair is not, leading to an unbalanced appearance that can resemble a toupee. The illustration on the left shows a conservative hairline design that does not mandate a temple reconstruction. The illustration on below shows a more aggressive hairline reconstruction that with the current position of the temples does not look natural. The lightly shaded gray shows a proposed temple reconstruction that will make the anterior hairline appear natural and balanced.

Many considerations must be taken when deciding on temporal point reconstruction. If the person is very young, the fear would be that over time that person would run out of hair to maintain a natural result in the temple area. Therefore, the surgeon should be careful not to build the anterior hairline so aggressively that the temples would need to be rebuilt at the same time or very soon with further hair loss. Someone with a very narrow face may look even narrower with an aggressive temporal point design. In general, artistically the surgeon must decide with the patient to what extent the temples should be rebuilt. I have also performed isolated temporal points in someone who has had previous transplants in the anterior hairline where now the temples have faded back making their transplant result look less natural or balanced.

Dr Samuel Lam is a board certified hair transplant surgeon in Dallas, Texas. To schedule a consultation please call 972-312-8105, or visit Dr Lam’s hair transplant forum to ask him a question.