A procedure typically involves the placement of 50 to as many as 325 hairs into each eyebrow, depending upon the existing amount of hair and the desired size and density. Performed usually under a mild oral sedative, the 2 hour procedure is essentially painless, as is the recovery period.

For the first 2 to 4 days after the procedure, tiny crusts are around each transplanted hair. By 3 to 5 days, other than some occasional mild pinkness which fades out by the first week, patients are able to return to normal activities without any sign of having had a procedure.

Sutures that are placed in the donor area are dissolvable so there is no need to return to the office for removal. The transplanted hairs fall out at around 2 weeks, and then start to regrow at 3 months, where they will continue to grow for a lifetime.

There are few risks with the procedure, and most are those associated with standard hair transplants. The donor site incision, usually 1 to 2 inches long, typically heals as a 2 mm wide incision, easily concealable with existing hair in the area. Occasionally a few hairs grow in less than the ideal direction- these few hairs can be plucked out if desired or sometimes trained to grow in just the right direction.

Dr. Epstein performs more than 150 of these eyebrow transplant procedures annually, and his work in this area has been featured in such as NY Post and Elle. Read his latest article in Plastic Surgery Practice Magazine.