guys, just wanted to know if one temple recedes faster than the other. does the slower temple catch up at a later point of time? this is because one side of my temple has receded probably an inche more than the other.

wanted to know others experiences on this. do both the temples recede at the same rate or do they recede unevenly & then catch up. also, does this hold any significance?

guys, just wanted to know if one temple recedes faster than the other. does the slower temple catch up at a later point of time? this is because one side of my temple has receded probably an inche more than the other.

wanted to know others experiences on this. do both the temples recede at the same rate or do they recede unevenly & then catch up. also, does this hold any significance?

temples always freak me out...I wonder where they are going to stop, because the temples are so low on the frame of your face that when I look in the mirror and imagine *THAT* being the bottom line of my balding pattern then assuredly I would be a NW7+...This can NOT be the case.

Regarding will both temples final fate be an even recession: I think there is no absolute answer for this...

don't know if you have seen this or not, but I was checking this out last night:

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/websites/galleryview.cfm?id=Bobman|gallery41.cfm

Bobman just went in for temple reconstruction recently I believe. That doesn't appear to have taken up too many grafts and will really frame his face well. Scroll around and look at the other pics where his hair is grown out post ht#2 PRIOR to temple reconstruction. His hair still looked pretty damn good without temples...

I think I would view temples as a bonus/luxury after I was happy with the density on top of my head. I think it is something ONLY us hair geeks notice after obsessing over our hair and the multitude of photos on the net...

I mean SERIOUSLY think back to before you lost any hair. Do you ever recall thinking about how great your temples look? Or being envious of some dudes temples?...Don't get me wrong, I too look at my temples in complete astonishment and mystery as I wonder where exactly they will end up. Just trying to put an objective level-headed thought on this one...

ng2gb summed it up; temple points do add a finishing touch and definitely play a role in framing the face and need to be considered in the hairline construction; what i mean by need to be considered is if the patients temple points are reeceded and due to donor limitations does not have them addressed or addressed minimally then the hairline height needs to compensate for this; it is natural for someone with reeceded temple points to have a higher, more mature hairline; however, it is unatural for someone with reeceded temple points to have a lower, more aggressive hairline; so in summary, temple point construction isn't necessary but adds a finishing touch and further frames the face; and the doctor needs to make sure the hairline and temple points complement one another;

cricket lover,
You might be reassured to know that the majority of men have asymmetrical patterns and depths of recession, when comparing the two sides. In the past 18 years of evaluating these on patients, this has become clear. Obviously, in most men there is a minor variation, but in some it is quite striking and creates a challenge when drawing in the hairline that will be used.
In our own practice, in men over the age of 35 we transplant the anterior temple area and points in around 40% of all such patients. It helps greatly in framing the face and "holding up" the new frontal hairline hair. Many men in their 40's and 50's also have pronounced graying in this area, and the simple transferring of some of the darker donor hairs from the back into this temple area helps darken them up a bit and make them look more youthful. I will try to add a few photos of a couple of patients in whom we did this to give you an idea of how they can help in fully creating the new hairline on a male patient with male pattern hair loss. The patient with the darker hair is 49 year old and had three transplant sessions to create what you see here. The second one, with a lot of gray hair present, had two sessions and you can see that the temple areas look darker in the "after" photo.
Mike Beehner, M.D.
Mike B

Attached Images

after_temple_patient_light.jpg (7.2 KB, 76 views)

Will try and add the other temple photos here, as only one went through on the first try.
M. Beehner

Attached Images

after_temple_patient_1.jpg (5.7 KB, 78 views)

Another temple photo.
MLB

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before_temple_patient_dark.jpg (6.3 KB, 79 views)

Final photo attached. Will use Photo Album of Patients section next time, as I'm only able to enter one photo at a time.
Mike Beehner, M.D.

Attached Images

before_temple,_patient_1.jpg (3.7 KB, 62 views)

Dr. B,

is it a requirement in your practice that the patient be at least 35 to transplant into the anterior temple points or is this just a stat you mentioned?

The reason I don't fill in the temples in men younger than 35 is similar to why I don't fill in the crown/vertex in men under the same age: It is too difficult to predict in a younger male how bald they will someday become. In most men the anterior border of the temples migrates rear-ward over the years, and in a certain percentage of men with male pattern baldness, the side fringes drop way down to a Norwood VII level of hair loss. If the surgeon committed a bunch of valuable donor hair to filling in those temple areas when they were young and they do in fact go on to progress to marked degree of baldness, then valuable donor hair was used which could have been used on top, and, more importantly, that hair can appear very strange and abnormal looking if everything it is connected to moves away and leaves it almost looking somewhat isolated. I think a surgeon has to have some sort of a "line in the sand" for some of these issues as to where to put hair, and that's where I have set my limits. I think for the younger male the overriding great thing a hair transplant does for them is frame the face and erase the high bald forehead that has nothing at the top of it defining it. The temples and crown are sort of "extra's" that are nice to have, but only at an age when they can be safely done without doing any harm to that patient's future appearance.
Mike Beehner, M.D.