In short. A headache history, a hollow still being created by illness or weight loss, and a target borrowed from another face. The temple refuses more often than expected.
Key points
- Describe what you want changed in terms of what you see in your own face rather than in terms of a picture.
- A patient who says the temple beside my eye has gone flat and a patient who says I want the upper face in this photograph are describing different things, and only one of them is a volume problem.
- The consultation is largely spent working out which one you are.
Temple candidacy is not the same question as filler candidacy. The general question — whether an injectable is suitable for me at all — is answered on the filler pages of this cluster. What is asked here is narrower: given that the target is the temple, what decides whether it will do what you hope, and what should send you elsewhere.
The question that predicts satisfaction
Describe what you want changed in terms of what you see in your own face rather than in terms of a picture. A patient who says the temple beside my eye has gone flat and a patient who says I want the upper face in this photograph are describing different things, and only one of them is a volume problem. The consultation is largely spent working out which one you are.
The headache history
This is the first question in this area rather than an afterthought. The temple sits over the temporalis muscle, and deep placement against that muscle is commonly followed by a dull pressure headache that settles over a day or two. In someone who has migraine, or headaches most weeks, that predictable ache is both harder to interpret and harder to tolerate. It is not an absolute barrier, and it is a conversation to have before the appointment is booked rather than afterwards.
The hollow that is still being made
A temple that has hollowed with illness, with treatment or with weight that is still coming off is a symptom of something still happening. Filling it means treating a moving target: the shape will continue to change underneath whatever is placed there, and the result will be judged against a face that no longer exists. Where the loss is from weight that has stabilised, a plan can be made. Where it has not, the assessment belongs with the cause.
The target taken from another face
A request built from somebody else’s temple is usually a request about brow position rather than temple volume. The patient has seen an upper face that reads open and has identified the temple as the reason. The difference between the two faces may be the position of the brow, the shape of the bone, or the amount of skin over the eye, and none of those is answered by adding material to the temple.
Ask for a different conversation if
- Your main complaint is that the brow has dropped rather than that the temple has flattened.
- You have been told that this will lift the brow, tighten the skin, or replace an operation.
- You cannot accept a temporary result, a second session, or a review visit.
What happens at the assessment, and what it looks for in the temple specifically, is set out in How the Temple Is Assessed Before Injection. Where the answer is that the temple is not the right target, the reasoning is in When to Decline Temple Filler.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a migraine history matter for the temple specifically?
Because the material is placed against the temporalis muscle, and a dull pressure headache over the temple afterwards is a common and expected part of the recovery. In someone who already has frequent headaches that is harder to tell apart from their usual pattern and harder to live with, so it is discussed before treatment rather than after it.
Is age a reason to be refused treatment?
No. Age changes what is likely to be found rather than whether treatment is allowed. A younger face more often has lost deep fat with the brow still where it was; an older face more often has a brow that has moved as well. Both can be assessed, and neither is automatically suitable or automatically excluded.
What should make me postpone rather than cancel?
An active infection or broken skin over the area, a dental or sinus problem in the same part of the face, pregnancy or breastfeeding, a bleeding disorder or medication that affects clotting, and any previous delayed reaction to an injected material. Most of these are reasons to wait for a defined period rather than never to proceed.
Risks & Limitations
- The temple is crossed by named vessels in a small space: the superficial temporal artery and its branches, the vein known as the sentinel vein near the outer orbital rim, and the deep temporal vessels beneath the fascia. Material entering an artery can travel, and because the frontal branch of the superficial temporal artery communicates with the vessels around the eye, skin loss and — rarely — loss of vision are possible. This is time-critical rather than cosmetic.
- The temporal branch of the facial nerve crosses the same region on its way to the brow. If it is affected the brow will not lift on that side. Most such weakness improves over weeks to months, and a proportion does not recover fully, which is why the way the brow lifts is recorded before treatment rather than only examined afterwards.
- Deep placement beside the temporalis muscle is commonly followed by a dull pressure headache that settles over a day or two, and by an ache on opening the mouth wide or chewing hard. A headache that is severe, one-sided in a new way, or worsening after the first days is not ordinary recovery and should be assessed.
- Adding volume to the temple does not lift a brow that has descended. It fills the shadow beneath the brow tail and changes how the upper face reads, and the position of the brow is unchanged. Where the distance between brow and eye is the complaint, the answer is an operation rather than an injection.
- Swelling and bruising, firmness and small lumps in the first weeks, asymmetry, nodules and delayed inflammatory reactions can occur. Every result is temporary, the material is not fully cleared between sessions, and only the reversible class can be broken down at all.
When to Seek Care
- Any change in vision, including blurring or a patch of lost sight — seek emergency care immediately.
- Severe pain out of proportion to the injection, or pain that is worsening rather than settling.
- Skin turning white, grey, mottled or dusky anywhere near the treated temple, the forehead or the eye.
- A brow that will not lift on one side, or a headache that is severe or worsening after the first few days.
- Swelling that is increasing after the first few days rather than settling, or fever with spreading redness, warmth or discharge.
References & Further Reading
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) — procedure and safety guidance
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, UK) — relevant guidance
- Cochrane Library — systematic reviews
- Chinese Medical Association Plastic Surgery Branch — clinical guidance
This page is patient education, not medical advice, and it does not cite individual studies. Discuss your own case with a qualified clinician. To arrange an assessment at Chongqing West District Hospital, see Contact & Consultation.