How Long After Brow Bone Implants Can Eyebrow Hair Transplants Be Done?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I read about you on some forums and was recommended to contact you regarding this issue. Anyway, based on your website, you seem to be one of the few surgeons who perform brow ridge implant and eyebrow hair transplants. Basically, I’ll be getting my brow ridge implants done next week, but I also have an appointment set up for my eyebrow hair transplants a month later. However, the surgeon doing the brow ridge implants has asked me to wait 6 months between procedures, whereas the hair transplant surgeon has advised me that it shouldn’t be too big of an issue to space them 3-4 weeks apart. Based on your experience, do you think it will be fine for me to get the brow ridge implants done, recover for 3-4 weeks and let majority of the swelling subside, then get the eyebrow transplants? Or, should I wait 6 months? I understand that it’ll take 6 months for swelling to subside fully, but will the small amount of residual swelling at 3-4 weeks post-op present a major risk to the eyebrow hair grafts? I sincerely thank you for taking the time to answer this as you are doing me a huge favor.

A: I see no biologic reason as to why eyebrow hair transplants can not be done a month or so after brow ridge augmentation. The blood supply to the eyebrow tissue is unaffected by the underlying implants, regardless of whether the overlying tissues have fully resolved their swelling and achieved final tissue adaption. In addition, the access incision for the brow bone implants is far away from the eyebrows and has no deleterious effect on their blood supply, even if a revision may be needed and done on them later.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana