Dr Lisa Chan on Why Your Temples Deserve Your Attention

Dr Lisa Chan discusses the ways in which temples, whose very name conjures up a sacred, spiritual and ethereal zone, can be restored following age-related deterioration.

The temples are the delicate and intricate gateways to our brains, our intellect, our emotions and our view of the world around us. Located behind our eyes and between the ears and forehead, they’re the meeting point of four delicate skull bones. A judiciously placed blow there can snuff out a life, and they are also the places we automatically reach for when we suffer from stress or a headache.

Surprisingly, temples receive little attention in terms of body maintenance compared with features lower on our faces, such as noses, lips and chins. And yet, because of their prominence and exalted position, they have a dramatic impact on our appearance.

When we grow older, our temples hollow as bone tissue in the area is worn down by muscle use, giving us a gaunter look and, in turn, making our eyebrows start to droop and become less defined. Their deterioration can make the face appear more bottom-heavy, which is particularly pronounced in people with prominent cheek bones and patients who’ve already had fillers to plump out their cheeks or lower face.

Restoration of temples can be fast and effective, however. Dermal fillers – using either hyaluronic acid or collagen biostimulators – can rebuild the temples and recreate facial equilibrium without the need for invasive surgery.

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Hyaluronic acid is naturally produced by our bodies and is easily reabsorbed, with effects lasting from six to 18 months.

Meanwhile, collagen biostimulators such as Poly-L-lactic acid restore the fats in our temples, firming up the skin and reducing wrinkles. The procedures are best carried out in conjunction with a brow lift to reverse the impact of sunken temples, adding filler to structurally support and anchor the brows in a more shaped and lifted position. The entire process is simple and straightforward enough to be carried out in a lunch break. Injecting the fillers takes a matter of minutes with no need for a general anaesthetic, so patients don’t need to take time off work and should recover fully from any lingering effects in just a few days. It’s a refreshing alternative to plastic surgery, which requires anaesthetic and in some cases admission to hospital for observation afterwards, making it costlier and involving a much longer recovery time.

Fillers are temporary, of course, and need to be reapplied between six months and a couple of years. When that happens, however, patients can choose to change the amount of position of the filler to achieve even better results. Although a doctor should always be consulted before considering any procedure of this kind, dermal fillers in temples are considered a generally safe procedure and they have some additional unexpected benefits. As well as eliminating the hollowness that causes eyebrow droop and the bottom-heavy facial appearance, they increase skin firmness and reduce wrinkles around the eyes and forehead. In some cases, they can also lift the sides of the eyes and draw them closer to the temples.

The fillers are suitable for anyone with hollowing temples, but work most effectively on patients with a sufficient level of hollowing to allow the fillers to sit well within the temple, and achieve a noticeable lift in the brows. Temples are too often overlooked in our wellbeing regimes. If you’ve been too fixated on the lower features of your face, it may be time to raise your sights higher and consider restoring your temples of gloom to their original radiant glory.