Eyebrow transplant procedures are growing in popularity. More women are realizing how much damage they can cause to their appearance by overplucking, shaping, and over-styling their eyebrows. Today, the New York Times reports on the trend of repairing eyebrows with hair transplant techniques and the use of camouflage products to cover up eyebrows that have been “tamed into oblivion.”

As the article’s headline declares, it is time to call in the professionals. The author of the article, Ms. Catherine St. Louis, turns to hair transplant pioneer Dr. Robert M. Bernstein for guidelines on performing a cosmetically-pleasing eyebrow transplant.

Q: Can the crown be transplanted first instead of frontal area? Why is the crown the last choice? Any reasons behind it?

A: The crown can be transplanted first in patients who have very good donor reserves (i.e., high density and good scalp laxity). Otherwise, after a hair restoration procedure to the crown you may not be left with enough hair to complete the front and top if those areas were to bald.

Cosmetically, the front and top are much more important to restore than the back. A careful examination by a trained hair restoration surgeon can tell how much donor hair there is available for a hair transplant.

Q: Is it more important to do scalp exercises before the first procedure or the second? A: When the scalp is tight, it can be useful for either the first or the second hair transplant. Keep in mind, however, that the scalp will naturally stretch between hair transplant procedures, so that if exercises were not [...]

Q: In which procedure do you generally more of a change, the first or the second? A: The answer depends upon the patient’s baldness. If they are very bald, the first session will be the most noticeable, since going from no hair to hair is much more dramatic than going from some hair to more [...]