How Many Sessions of Eyebrow Hair Transplants Will I Need?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in pursuing more information about eyebrow transplants. My eyebrows have thinned considerably in spots and they appear uneven. Therefore, I would like to have this corrected. I am curious as to how many sessions I may need to have in order to get my eyebrows as full as I’d like them to be. I have attached photographs of what my eyebrows currently look like and a photograph of my eyebrows as I would like them to be.

A: Eyebrow hair transplants represent the smallest surface area for hair transplantation that is done regularly. While once used just for traumatic eyebrow hair loss, it has become popular for women of all ages to thicken naturally sparse eyebrows or eyebrows which have become thinner with age or plucking. If you count the number of hairs in your existing eyebrow, you will see they are approximately 80 to 100 hairs in each eyebrow. ( I know because I counted yours) To double or triple the density of hairs in your eyebrow (which is what you are showing in your ideal picture), you would need 100 hairs or roughly 40 to 45 follicular units per eyebrow. How many hairs that can be transplanted depends on how close together they can be placed into the slits made for them. On a realistic basis it can be hard to place more than 20 to 25 follicular transplants in each eyebrow in a single session. That may be enough when they are fully grown but you would have to make that judgment six months after the initial session. Thus, one session may do but it is best to always plan on a ‘touch-up’ session depending how the hairs take or to add more for eceb greater density. As a general rule, hairs take about 6 to 8 weeks before you will see significant growth or when they start visible growing. It also takes this amount of time for the little ‘dots’ that surround each transplant to fade and blend into the surrounding skin.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana