American model and television personality Chrissy Teigen kickstarted a debate about eyebrow transplants when she posted details of her procedure on social media earlier this year. Her pictures and posts were quickly picked up by fashion magazines which highlighted her new eyebrows and discussed the pros and cons of having the treatment.
What’s interesting about this is that the eyebrow transplant is not a new phenomenon. It’s been around for decades, in fact. The interest in Teigen’s procedure, however, would seem to indicate that it has not yet broken through into mainstream public consciousness. That could be about to change as more and more celebrities discover the benefits of an eyebrow transplant. As a rule, if something trends with celebrities, it’s not long before it reaches Joe Public.
That being the case, we want you to be ahead of the pack. This article is going to set out everything you need to know about eyebrow transplants. Scroll down to start your education!
Why Have an Eyebrow Transplant?
Eyebrows are versatile. They perform the practical purpose of keeping droplets of sweat and rain from running into our eyes while simultaneously having an important aesthetic role in framing our face and highlighting its contours and angles. There is no such thing as the ‘ideal’ eyebrow any more than there is a perfect head of hair. In both cases, however, full and thick coverage trumps patchy and thin every time.
There are several reasons why people lose hair from their eyebrows. Complete loss is rare. When it happens, it’s due to medical conditions like alopecia areata, frontal fibrosing alopecia, or trichotillomania. Partial loss is more common and, again, there can be multiple reasons behind this. Scarring as a result of an accident or a burn can make your eyebrows thin in places. Too much tweezing or waxing over many years can also result in patchy coverage.
How Are Eyebrow Transplants Done?
If you know anything about the mechanics of hair transplants, you’ll already have a good idea of how eyebrow transplants work. That’s because the same transplant technique is used in both. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) surgery has been a game-changer when it comes to treating baldness. Now, it is doing the same with eyebrow transplants.
Hair follicles are lifted from donor areas at the back and sides of the head and grafted into the thin or patchy area of the eyebrow. The grafted follicles produce new hairs just as they were doing on the head, meaning that the client’s eyebrows are enhanced with their own naturally growing hair.
Eyebrow transplants in a reputable clinic can be done with the aid of a needle-free anaesthetic. No sutures are required, and you should be free to resume your daily routine in about twenty-four hours.
Are There Any Downsides?
The downsides to eyebrow transplants tend to be minor cosmetic issues. For example, the fact that the grafts used are generally taken from the scalp means that the new eyebrows may require more frequent trimming, as scalp hair tends to grow longer and faster than eyebrow hair. For the same reason, the new eyebrows will need to be shaped more regularly.
Patience is also required with this treatment. While the procedure itself takes only about three hours, it takes three or four months to see new hair growth and a few months after that for the full results to be seen.
Choose Your Clinic Carefully
The quality of the outcome in eyebrow transplants rests heavily on the skill of the surgeon performing the operation. Eyebrow density and proportion aren’t improved just by grafting hair follicles into the general vicinity of the eyebrows. The grafts need to be implanted in a targeted way to produce the most impressive results. That’s why careful research is required to find the best clinic and surgeon for the task.
The better clinics will offer you a free consultation. This is because they will want to provide you with a procedure designed to suit your individual needs. It will also give you the chance to talk about what you hope to gain from the procedure and for the clinic to assess if they can meet your expectations.
Conclusion
Having an eyebrow transplant is not the same as having them trimmed or shaped. It’s a minor surgical procedure, so you need to know exactly what you’re signing up for. That means doing your research carefully, both on the procedure itself and the clinic you intend to use.
If you have any questions about eyebrow transplants, Vinci Hair Clinic can help. We are one of the world’s leading hair restoration organisations, and eyebrow transplants are included in the range of treatments we offer. Not only that, but we provide a free, no-obligation consultation to all our new clients. Just get in touch and book your appointment!