Eyebrow restoration is a cosmetic hair surgery ideal for restoring natural-looking eyebrows that are fuller and dense. Patients seeking an eyebrow transplant often desire to regain their brows to a more youthful appearance due to overplucking or thinning due to aging.
The procedure involves using your scalp hair to create beautiful, thick eyebrows that will grow throughout your lifetime. Read on to learn more about the process, a treatment that our team of experts has completed hundreds of times.
Donor Area
Eyebrows are a significant part of your facial appearance, contributing to your expression and self-image. Eyebrow transplant surgery from experts like Bosley.com can restore a full, natural-looking shape to your eyebrows and correct any imbalance or thinning caused by overplucking or aging. It can also address scarring from a previous transplant and other trauma.
In the eyebrow restoration procedure, hair follicles are harvested from the back of your scalp (or other areas) to replace the thinning or missing hair in your brows. Two methods are commonly used: follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplant (FUT). FUE harvests individual hair follicles using a small punch, whereas FUT extracts a strip of hair follicles from the scalp.
The transplanted hair follicles are then arranged to replicate the growth pattern in the eyebrow region. The surgeon will ensure the grafts are placed at the right angle to create a natural-looking, realistic brow.
You may experience scabbing and some hair loss in the initial weeks after the procedure, but the grafted hair should begin to grow within a few months. After the eyebrow hairs have grown, trim them twice or thrice a month to maintain their length and prevent them from growing too long. If your brows do not produce as densely as you would like, you can undergo a touch-up procedure about nine months after the surgery.
Anesthesia
The brows are an important facial feature that balances and completes the rest of your face. Eyebrow transplants could be a solution if you’re unhappy with how your brows look owing to over-plucking, heredity, or other factors.
Your doctor will assess you during your initial consultation to decide the best action for achieving your desired brow shape. Unlike tattoos or daily makeup, eyebrow hair restoration is permanent, allowing you to create complete, natural-looking brows that will last for life.
The procedure is typically performed under local anesthesia, ensuring you don’t feel any pain. However, some prefer general anesthesia for cosmetic procedures such as eyebrow transplants. You should discuss this with your surgeon during the consultation to ensure you are comfortable with the type of anesthesia used.
To restore your brows, your surgeon will remove hair follicles from another part of the body and then transplant them to your eyebrow area. Two standard surgical hair transplant techniques are used in eyebrow restoration: follicular unit extraction (FUE) and follicular unit transplantation (FUT).
The procedure itself takes around three to four hours, so you should plan to spend a few hours in the clinic. You’ll be given oral sedation and local anesthesia for the eyebrow area and the donor site so you won’t experience discomfort during the procedure.
Surgery
Eyebrow transplants (also known as eyebrow restoration) are designed to create fuller eyebrows that are flattering to your face and complement your facial features. This procedure uses hair follicles from the scalp to create thick, natural-looking eyebrows. This is a permanent solution to thin or missing brows caused by hair loss, a genetic condition, over-plucking, and tweezing.
The surgeon will numb the area to prevent discomfort during the surgery. He will make tiny punctures to mark the sites on your forehead where he will place the transplanted hairs. This is done using the follicular unit extraction (FUE) or follicular unit grafting (FUG) technique.
During this phase, the surgeon will remove hair follicles from your scalp using a manual or robotic punching device. The bristles are transferred to the eyebrow areas in tiny, individual grafts.
Once the follicles are in place, the surgeon will carefully shape them to a design that complements your face and eyes. The angulation of the strands is crucial for a natural appearance. Occasionally, the hairs may grow at a less-than-ideal angle, but this is usually readily corrected by trimming them twice a month.
After the procedure, it’s normal for some transplanted follicles to fall out, but this is not harmful and will eventually be replaced with new, healthy hairs. Follow the doctor’s instructions regarding aftercare to minimize your risk of complications.
Recovery
The eyebrow hair transplant is performed under local anesthesia to avoid the discomfort associated with general anesthesia. Patients may experience some redness, swelling, and crusting or tiny scabs in the area where the hair follicles were placed. This is a normal part of the recovery process and should resolve in a few days to a week.
Usually, no other post-op care is needed for the eyebrow transplant. However, the doctor may prescribe pain relievers and anti-inflammatories for the first few days of recovery to alleviate any tenderness or bruising in the area. He may also recommend an anti-inflammatory ointment or cream to improve healing. It is essential to follow his instructions and apply the lotion as advised. Avoiding getting the grafts wet for the first five days after surgery is also a good idea.
The grafted hairs from the scalp will continue to grow and may need to be trimmed to maintain their shape. This differs from what occurs naturally when the follicles in your eyebrow region are shed.
Like any cosmetic surgery, there are possible complications with an eyebrow hair transplant. These include cysts or fluid-filled sacs that form around the follicles, which can be painful and require surgical removal. Other potential complications include the body rejecting the transplanted hairs, which can cause them to fall out or grow in the wrong direction.
