Where Do the Temple Peaks Come From?

This is probably a stupid question but your blog popped up in Google when I search the subject and figured you probably would know the answer. Does every guy have those “triangle points” or whatever they are called kinda by the eyes? I have seen some guys with a full head of hair without them and some guys that are slick bald on top but have really full points. Even some guys with just one. I never really noticed this before until someone at work was “lined up” at the barber and had crazy designs put in his. I don’t have them nor do I think I ever did (I kinda have some on one side I guess).

I am not bald by no means even confirmed by my dermatologist. Id ask them this question but I don’t go back in there for months for my check up. Anyway I know its probably stupid but I was just curious as I dont think any of the guys in my family have them, but I see all kinds of combos throughout the day. Maybe its just genetic makeup like hair color or fine vs coarse hair. Thanks for your time.

Actually, this is a good question. There are two areas where people have peaks in their hairline. Both men and women get them, because these peaks (temple peaks on the sides and widow’s peaks in the center of the hairline) evolve from a concave juvenile hairline that is present in all children of all races. By children, I am talking about those boys and girls ages 5-7. As these children age, there are changes that happen as the hairline recedes either upward (in the center) or back (on the sides). In many men and women, the temple peaks are often left behind as the hair from the juvenile hairlines recede.

Take a look at Ronald Reagan as a young man here. What you will see is an eroded central hairline with the mid-portion slightly lower than the sides of his hairline. Please note the temple peaks. Now if you take a look at a later photo of President Reagan, you will see that these prominent temple peaks are mostly gone. There are some men who retain their temple peaks no matter how bald they become. I have patients with a Norwood class 7 hair loss pattern who retained their temple peaks even after they lost the majority of their scalp hair.

So to answer your question, temple peaks evolve in many men from the young 5 year old hairline and they may keep it their entire lives, or lose part of it or even all of it as you age. I just wrote a paper on this very subject, which will be published this week in the Journal of Facial Plastic Surgery.