Fascia · Head

Temporal fascia

Fascia temporalis

The strong, glistening sheet that covers the temporalis muscle over the temple. It grips the curved temporal line on the side of the skull along its upper edge and, lower down, splits into two layers that take hold of the outer and inner lips of the cheekbone arch, with a pad of fat sandwiched between them. Its deep surface gives origin to some of the temporalis fibres, so the muscle pulls partly on its own covering rather than only on bone. It is not the layer directly under the skin — skin, subcutaneous fat and the thin superficial temporal fascia carrying the superficial temporal vessels all lie over it — but it is the firm sheet you meet under those when you press the temple.