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Eyebrow Transplant: What is It and How Is It Done?
The eyebrows are a focal point of the face, framing our eyes in a way that conveys expression and draws attention with aesthetic symmetry.
In the past several years, eyebrow makeup and procedures have become an industry in itself, with men and women alike spending good money and time to achieve their ideal brow shape and density.
Eyebrows also play a physiological role in protecting our eyes from sweat, sun, and particles that may be in the air. Here is the need-to-know info on eyebrow transplants.
The Goal of Eyebrow Transplant Surgery
Clients seek eyebrow transplants with a few simple goals: increase the density of the follicles of the eyebrow, achieve a more aesthetic shape, and maintain this new look with minimal maintenance over time.
While everyone will have a specific vision of what their eyebrows look like, doctors will weigh in with their own opinions and provide a thorough analysis of what to expect.
Increasing the follicle count of the brow is the most widely stated goal of eyebrow transplant clients, who wish to get a fuller and denser look. This can help frame the eye in an appealing way and allow them to be more expressive with their facial gestures.
Many clients also wish to permanently adjust the shape of the eyebrow, whether it’s creating a higher arch, or extending the length of the brow for more coverage over the eye.
Cosmetic experts often take a series of measurements across the face to gauge how long, tall, and full an eyebrow should look before setting to work on their chosen technique.
If you are used to getting spa treatments or eyebrow shaping done at salons, you may not be used to the more scientific approaches to eyebrow measurement required before a serious surgery like microblading or transplant.
Doctors will provide you with their professional opinion before committing to a particular shape, but ultimately it is up to you to articulate the details of your desired look.
Unlike microblading and tattooing, eyebrow transplants use your own hair from a donor area, and the follicles will grow and behave just like normal brow hair would. You can shape, tweeze, and wax your brow as normal, which is a huge upside for many people.
Best Candidates for Eyebrow Transplant
Most individuals can successfully undergo eyebrow transplant surgery and get the results they want. Only in some rare cases will surgeons recommend against eyebrow transplant, but for the most part, the procedure is effective for all genders and age groups.
With that said, the conditions that lead to eyebrow thinning can vary, and any medical conditions need to be expressed to the clinical professionals you’re working with.
Genetics seem to play a primary role, according to scientists and researchers. Androgenetic alopecia, the main cause of male pattern balding, can also affect eyebrow hair, although it’s far less common than symptoms such as receding hairline or patchiness on the crown.
Many patients also seek eyebrow transplant surgery after suffering hair loss in the area from years of treatments, including threading, microblading, waxing, and tweezing. If the area is not given the proper amount of time to heal between treatments, the follicles may be damaged and lead to undesired patchiness.
In some cases, it isn’t the loss of eyebrow hair that bothers patients, but rather the color and shape. Depending on one’s complexion, light-colored eyebrow follicles can contribute to a thin appearance, which can be addressed by transplanting hair from parts of the body with darker, coarser fibers.
Typically, hair from the back of the scalp is designated as the donor area for eyebrow transplants, which tend to be thicker and stronger, leading to a more resilient brow shape.
There are also several uncommon but serious medical conditions that can result in hair loss on the eyebrow, such as alopecia areata, and other autoimmune disorders. Clients with these conditions should be aware that further thinning can occur despite a transplant.
As with any procedure of this kind, those interested should seek one-on-one consultation with a qualified doctor who has demonstrated a high success rate with eyebrow transplant surgery.
Take the time necessary to shop around various clinics in your state or beyond your country’s borders to get the best possible treatment available in your price range. Ideally, you’ll find a board-certified surgeon who has a long history of performing successful eyebrow transplants and can guide you through the process with confidence, clarity, and skill.
What to Expect, Step by Step
After you’ve chosen a great clinic, had your consultation with the doctor, and done everything you need to prepare ahead of time, the day of the surgery will come and it’s time for action.
When you enter the clinic at the scheduled time, the clinic staff will help make you comfortable as you wait to be called into the room where the procedure will be done.
After you greet the surgeon and the team members, you will be given a final rundown of what to expect during the procedure, and any last-minute questions will be answered.
From there, the surgeon will mark up the target areas with a surgical pen and finalize all the steps before setting to work. You will be given a local anesthetic at the donor and recipient areas, which will keep any pain and discomfort to a minimum.
The actual procedure is based on a technique known as Follicular Unit Excision, in which doctors will harvest individual hairs from the back of the neck with precise instruments, place them in a designated treatment zone, then graft them to the target area one by one.
FUE has been a popular method of hair transplantation to the scalp for many years and has a few distinct advantages over FUT strip surgery, which is designed for longer megasessions with thousands of grafts.
The main upside of FUE is the low likelihood of scarring in the donor area. Rather than removing a long, horizontal strip of tissue from the back of the head, surgeons pinpoint the best follicles for the job and extract them without leaving a noticeable mark.
This is ideal for eyebrow transplantation, which does not typically require a huge amount of grafts. What matters more is the precision and artistry of the surgeon, and how well the body accepts the newly grafted hair over time.
With minimal discomfort and a relatively quick turnaround time, you can expect to be home from the clinic that same afternoon to start the recovery process.
Recovery, Cost, and Other Considerations
Compared to more invasive surgeries such as hairline lowering and traditional hair transplants, eyebrow transplant procedures tend not to require a prolonged recovery time.
Clients can expect to be in and out of the clinic within two to three hours, in most circumstances. No major sedative medication is required to endure the procedure, only a local anesthetic administered to the donor and recipient areas.
If you follow the aftercare protocols laid out by the clinic and avoid strenuous activity, you will avoid any side effects such as infections or discomfort. Some doctors will suggest you avoid certain medications and limit alcohol or smoking as the area recovers fully.
Be sure to keep a close eye on the affected area as it heals and call your clinic if anything strange takes place. You will be asked to return to the clinic in a few weeks for a follow-up meeting to make sure everything is going according to plan.
Remember that the newly grafted follicles will fall out within a few weeks, but will then grow back stranger than ever over the next several months.
After you get the green light from the clinic you can treat your newly crafted eyebrows however you want. Just keep in mind that because the hair has been transplanted from fast-growing donor follicles, some extra trimming and maintenance will be required to prevent overgrowth and ensure your ideal shape.
Conclusion
Eyebrow transplants have come a long way since their invention, and some of the world’s most renowned clinics and doctors offer this procedure with an overwhelming rate of success.
Be sure to select a clinic with professional service and a solid track record of successful surgeries, and form a trusting relationship with the team to ensure that any questions and concerns are addressed every step of the way.
Don’t fret about the surgery itself — it’s fast and easy. Just be prepared to take it slow during recovery for the best results.
Last but not least, take pride in your new eyebrows and stay up on your maintenance routine to keep them looking great for a long time!
If you want to learn more about eyebrow transplants or any other cosmetic hair restoration procedures, be sure to bookmark our blog!
Sources:
https://eluxemagazine.com/beauty/which-is-better-eyebrow-transplants-or-microblading/
https://www.veraclinic.net/everything-you-need-to-know-about-having-an-eyebrow-transplant/