We perform eyebrow transplantation for both men and women. Most commonly, in the case of the men, there is a lack of eyebrow hairs simply due to hereditary factors. For women, the problem with the missing eyebrow hairs is usually caused by over-zealous “plucking,” but genetic factors and various skin and medical conditions can certainly play a part in the need for eyebrow restoration.
Even if you have eyebrow tattoos, the transplanted eyebrow hair can be placed over the tatoo. To give you the most natural look through eyebrow transplant, we are very precise in the angle and orientation in which we place each and every eyebrow hair.
Around half of our patients come only once for eyebrow transplantation, and half desire to return for a second “touch up” procedure to add increased density. It is common to have swelling and bruising around the eyes for 3-4 days after the procedure. By day 5 there is usually no evidence of the procedure performed, other than the new eyebrow hair.
The donor hair for the eyebrow transplants is obtained from the scalp. A small incision is created to harvest a small strip of hair from the back of the scalp and then this strip is dissected under LED microscopes into single hair follicles. Only single hair follicles are placed in the eyebrows to create a completely natural look. Because the donor hair comes from the scalp, this hair will continue to grow as it does on the scalp, and thus will require periodic trimming to keep the eyebrow hairs looking natural.
We place the eyebrow hairs at around 1/4 inch in length so that the curl is seen, and so the eyebrow hairs grow towards the skin and not away from the skin. After they are placed, you can immediately see the effect that the transplants will have on your appearance. Just as in scalp hair transplantation, most of those transplanted eyebrow hairs will then fall out for a period of “telogen” (hibernation) and will then begin to re-grow around 3-4 months. At 6 months 50-60% of the final result is seen, and the full result is typically seen at the 9-12 month mark.
If someone decides to have a second eyebrow transplant procedure for increased density, the second session is generally scheduled around 8-12 months after the first one.
The procedure takes 4-7 hours to perform and is done completely under local anesthetic. We usually place between 200-400 grafts per eyebrow. We place the grafts in one eyebrow and then discuss it with the patient, and continue to modify until the patient is satisfied. We then do the same on the second eyebrow and then do back to the first eyebrow to modify again if necessary. It does not matter to us how much time it takes, we are not done until the patient is satisfied with the final result.
For 4-5 days after the surgery there will be tiny crusts which appear like dots of sand on the skin, and then these fall off, leaving the eyebrows similar to the way they did before the surgery. Most people have the procedure done on a Thursday or Friday, and are back to work on Monday.