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Lack of eyebrows can be genetic. As you age, your eyebrows may thin, especially the outer third portion. You may have over-plucked your eyebrows and they no longer grow. You may have had a bad experience with eyebrow microblading and it looks like a green tattoo. You may just want a full eyebrow because filling in your eyebrows can become a burdensome morning routine. Eyebrow transplant surgery can address these issues.
Yes, if you want to address the issues discussed above. Just as the hairline frames the face, the eyebrows frame the eyes. Physiologically, eyebrows function to protect your eyes from moisture, sweat, and foreign particles. They also provide a subtle shade from the sun and glare. Aesthetically, eyebrows convey your emotions and expressions as well as contribute to your attractiveness.
Eyebrow transplant surgery involves harvesting the donor hair from the back of your scalp and dissecting it under a stereo microscope into individual hair follicles. These individual hair follicles are artistically arranged or implanted to create your perfect eyebrows.
The donor hairs for your eyebrows are harvested from the back of your scalp.
There are two harvesting methods in eyebrow transplant surgery:
Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), also known as Follicular Unit Strip Surgery (FUSS) or “Strip” harvesting, is a harvesting technique where a small section of hair is taken from the back of your scalp. There will be a small incision about 1 to 2 inches long that will be hidden by your hair. The sutures used for the incision are self-dissolving. The incision will only be noticeable if you ever shave your head or buzz cut your hair. The harvested hairs are dissected into individual hair follicles under a stereo microscope and checked for quality by highly trained surgical staff. The advantage of FUT harvesting for eyebrow transplant surgery is that there is no shaving of your hair. The disadvantage is that you have a small incision scar that may be visible if you shave the back of your head. This may be an issue for men, but it usually is not an issue for women.
Follicular Unit Excision (FUE) harvesting is where individual hair follicles are transplanted with a cylindrical blade that is about 1mm in diameter. Each of your hairs need to fit inside this cylindrical blade so your hair has to be trimmed or shaved very short to harvest the hair follicle. For a typical eyebrow transplant surgery with FUE harvesting, a small section of your scalp needs to be shaved to take out several hundred hair follicles. Accordingly, several hundred “holes” on the back of your scalp will heal, leaving several hundred round, pale scars. The advantage of FUE harvesting for eyebrow transplant surgery is that you can wear your hair very short or shave the back of your head without noticing the round scars. FUE is also slightly less painful immediately after surgery, but in the grand scheme of things, this is a minor benefit. The disadvantage of FUE harvesting for eyebrow transplant surgery is that the quality of the FUE grafts may be slightly inferior to the FUT harvested grafts.
The main difference between FUT and FUE are the type of scars they leave behind. There are different trade-offs associated with each type of harvesting method.
Replicating the unique directional changes of eyebrow hair is critical to a successful eyebrow restoration. The eyebrow hair points upward near the nose, and then fans outward toward the temples. All of the eyebrow hairs emerge from the skin at a very small angle (almost flat), so the recipient sites must be made with the needle actually lying on the skin surface. Your doctor will place the hair grafts in the proper direction so that they lie flat against the brow bone as much as possible.
Your doctor’s artistic skill is most important in making sure each hair is implanted in the correct direction, angle, and distribution. The exact shape of your eyebrow is determined before your surgery. You have full control in the shape, and the doctor will make sure every hair is placed to fit the shape. If you are not sure of the shape for your ideal eyebrows, your doctor will advise you on a balanced and proportionate eyebrow. You can also bring in photos of eyebrows you like and dislike for the doctor.
After your doctor makes the recipient site incisions, a highly trained surgical team will carefully insert each hair follicle to complete your eyebrow transplant.
You can use hairs from any part of your body as your donor hair. The hairs from the nape of the neck, arms, and even armpits have been used. However, the hair cycle of these hairs do not match your eyebrow hairs. More importantly, the success rate is variable with different body parts. The hairs on the back of your scalp are usually the best donor hair supply for eyebrow transplant surgery.
There is no set number of hairs you need for eyebrow transplant surgery. In general, the number of hairs may range from 100 to 500 for each eyebrow. Your doctor can better give you an assessment after understanding your goals and expectations.
Our philosophy is to always achieve your goal with one surgery. We would like one surgery to give you an improvement that is worthwhile. However, we all have a different set of goals and expectations. For many women, even a single eyebrow hair out of place may be an issue. At NHI Medical, we offer a complimentary touch up if a few missing hairs are an issue.
Since your donor hair is typically from the scalp, it will have the same characteristics and grow like regular scalp hair. This means that you will need to trim your eyebrows every few days as it will continue to grow like scalp hair.
The transplanted hair will be the texture and color of the hair on the back of the scalp. It will most likely match your original eyebrows. However, if you scrutinize up close, you may be able to tell this difference while others may not. The transplanted hairs sometimes “lift” up and grow in a slightly mismatched direction. This is not usually an issue for men, who have “bushy” eyebrows, but can be an issue for women who want feminine, soft-groomed eyebrows.
A major issue with eyebrow transplant surgery is that the transplanted hairs take on the same characteristics as the hairs from where they were taken. In other words, the transplanted hairs will continue growing like the hairs on your head. You will need to trim your eyebrow hairs every few days.
The angle at which the transplanted hairs grow will be slightly elevated no matter how perfectly flat the surgeon places them. Your hair characteristics will also play a factor in this phenomenon. Coarse donor hair tends to stick up more than fine hair. You may have to groom the transplanted eyebrow hairs and use eyebrow gel.
There may be slight redness for the first few days to weeks for people with pale or sensitive skin.
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