Battle Against Bald | A Battle Against Hair Loss Through Hair Restoration

Eyelash transplantation surgery gains popularity

Eyelash transplant surgery is becoming more popular, says Eye-Zine.com.  We have blogged quite a bit on eyebrow and eyelash transplantation, but have failed to explain exactly how eyelash transplantation works. The micro-surgical procedure is being requested for mostly cosmetic purposes, though it originated as a treatment for people who suffered burns or other malformations around the eye.  Here's how it works: 

Similar to traditional hair restoration, donor hair follicles are taken from the back of the patients head (usually around 100 hair follicles)  and are transplanted around the edge of your eyelids.  Recovery time is about 7-10 days, with the new lashes beginning to grow about 3-6 months later. Once the follicles grow, they continue to grow as hair on your head would, which means your new lashes need regular trimming.

Since discovering that eyelash extensions can traumatize the hair follicle and cause permanent eyelash thinning, many women have turned to eyelash transplants. With only a handful of transplant surgeons in the United States specializing in eyelash transplantation the cost comes at no surprise; eyelash transplants cost approximately $6,000-7,000!

News Flash - Bosley Restores Eyebrows Too

I've blogged several times about the different areas (other than your head) cosmetic surgeons can transplant hair to on the human body. Aside from traditional hair transplantation procedures; eyelash and eyebrow transplants are among the two most popular non-traditional hair restorations. Honestly, I can't imagine someone actually paying to have hair anywhere else. 

As unorthodox as they seem, both eyebrow and eyelash restoration are gaining popularity, particularly among women.  as forced change.  More recently,  Bosley has received some press concerning a new-found interest in having thicker eyebrows. Apparently thin is no longer in when it comes to the hair above a woman's eye, and women are seeking council from surgeons to reverse the effects of years of plucking and waxing. In addition to the article above, CBS Los Angeles did a special report on eyebrow restoration.

Eyelash Transplantation on NBC

A few weeks ago I blogged about one of the newest trends in cosmetic surgery,  eyelash transplantation. There's a growing interest among women wishing to cultivate longer and more luxurious lashes and cosmetic surgeons, such as eyelash transplant pioneer Dr. Alan Bauman, are capitalizing on this interest.  Most recently,  NBC Today did a feature story on the eye boggling procedure.

Eyelash Transplants and Designer Shoes and Handsbags

What do eyelashes and designer shoes and handbags have in common? Well, all of them are symbols of femininity but only one is a natural part of the human anatomy. Additionally, eyelashes are becoming as much of a mainstream accessory for women as designer shoes and handbags have been for years. When it comes to eyelashes, longer is better and women are willing to pay whatever it takes to have longer lashes.

A lot of women spend hundreds and even thousands for stick-on and eyelash extensions; whereas others take it to the highest level and have permanent eyelash transplants. I've blogged about eyelash transplants in previous entries and this is just further proof of the cosmetic procedure's growing popularity. It's said that women seek longer and more luxurious lashes because they frame the face and allow for more visible color in eyeliner to accent the eye.

There's only a handful  of cosmetic surgeons currently marketing and performing eyelash  transplants and the cost is usually around $3,000 per eye.  One of the most popular eye lash restoration surgeons, Dr. Alan Bauman, says his business has increased by more than 300% since last year. Dr. Bauman has also been featured on NBC  Today and performed a procedure live on the air. 

Eyelash Transplantation - A Growing Interest

If you don't remember, I blogged about eyelash transplantation surgery a few months ago, and in a sense, wrote it off as a new extreme in the world of cosmetic surgery. Much to my surprise, what started as a procedure intended for facial trauma patients is now gaining popularity amongst consumers and doctors alike. In fact, the Independent, a popular UK newspaper is calling eyelash restoration a hair restoration to be noticed.

Eyebrow Restoration

Today I read an interesting article about how eyebrow restoration is the latest frontier in women's makeovers.  While others might not notice faint or non-existent eyebrows, it's certainly something you yourself would see, since you look at yourself every day in the mirror.  Here are some good tidbits that I got out of the article in the Journal Gazette. Apparently, eyebrow hair restoration costs between $3,000 to $5,000, and is very similar to a regular hair restoration procedure.

Here’s how an eyebrow transplant works, according to the folks at Bosley:

•A doctor gives local anesthesia, then slices off a strip of your scalp from the back of your head. It’s called the “donor area,” and once you take hair from it, the hair will behave as if it’s still there, no matter where else in the body you place it (this, as you'll recall, is exactly what they do for a regular hair restoration procedure).

•Nurses cut up the extracted tissue into slivers, like slicing a loaf of French bread. They look at the slivers under microscopes and separate out the correct hair follicles.  As I noted in an earlier post, follicles produce either one, two, three or four hairs. For eyebrows, they look for the "ones."

•The doctor then creates incisions where your eyebrows will be, leaving punctures about 1 millimeter across and 3 to 4 millimeters deep, angled in the direction you want the hair to grow (again, just like hair restoration on your scalp). The number varies, but the average person naturally has about 250 hairs in each brow.

•As your transplantation team places the individual hairs into the holes, you are magically re-browed, follicle by follicle.

I don't know about 'shock loss' or recovery time on eyebrow transplantation.  I'll try to find out.

I know that Bosley can also transplant eye lashes.  I'm pretty sure I would take sedation to a whole new level before I went through that, but that's just me.