Fronto-temporal Design Options (illustration taken from Dr. Lam’s book, Hair Transplant 360)

Although we have discussed the bell and the round patterns for hairline design in other blog articles, we did not discuss what the impact is on the temple hair when creating these types of hairline shapes.  When the temple hair is not simultaneously created and only the front hairline is made, then the design of the central hairline can impact the future position of the temple hair.  Let me explain.  The bell curve ends with the outer portion jutting toward the temple hair fixing the temple position where the hairline ends.  This is contrasted to the round hairline that ends tapering backward (on the left side of the illustration) so that the temple could be positioned farther back.  Although the round hairline design requires more grafts to be used since it is more convex and less tapered, it allows for a more conservative temple design in the future.  Obviously, if the temple is going to be transplanted at the same time, then the point is moot since the temple position will already be fixed by the new transplanted temple hair.  The reason to bring up this subtle point is to educate the reader on the many artistic and technical judgments that enter into an experienced hair-transplant surgeon’s mind when designing hairline shape and position.