Despite our busy schedule, mothers like us want to stay beautiful. Aside from taking care of our skin, we also look for other things to pamper ourselves. Well, we deserve it!
If you are tired of using mascara every day to make your lashes look full, then here is an answer for that problem: eyelash transplants. What are these anyway?
Originally, eyelash transplants were designed for accident or trauma victims who had had their lashes permanently destroyed. For instance, burn victims often have no lashes left at all. This not only damages an individual’s facial symmetry but their self-esteem as well.
The first ever eyelash transplant was done in Brazil about 20 years ago. The successful nature of the procedure saw it gain a lot of publicity with surgeons the world over looking to get in on the action to help trauma victims.
Over time, however, doctors realized that these transplants could also be done for aesthetic purposes. Thus, an individual with thin eyelashes could enhance their appearance using this procedure as well as those that had permanently destroyed their lashes due to excessive use of glue-on eyelashes. False lashes are risky in that they can rip out your lashes’ follicles thus leaving a person with bald eyelids.
At the moment, only a few surgeons can carry out a successful eyelash transplant, and thus it is important to only be worked on by reputable eyelash transplant surgeons.
Who Stands to Benefit from an Eyelash Transplant?
Eyelashes are an important contributor to facial symmetry. Thus, an individual that does not have lashes or is not proud of theirs can be very conscious of their appearance. Therefore, the reasons to have an eyelash surgery might include:
-Scarring, facial injury, or physical trauma resulting incidences such as industrial accidents, road accidents, eyelid tattoos, chemical and thermal burns, or the perpetual use of glue-on lashes.
-Chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer treatment which has resulted in hair loss.
-Surgical treatment that involved removing eyelash follicles
-Damage caused during a beauty routine such as over plucking of the lashes.
-Trichotillomania
Additionally, fashion is a major dictator of the way people want their eyelashes. Even though there is a wide range of cosmetic products that can make the lashes appear longer or thicker, eyelash transplants are becoming the go-to treatment since they offer a permanent solution.
The Consultation
When you visit the cosmetic surgeon, the first thing that they will consider is whether you are qualified to undergo the procedure. Note that these transplants can only be performed on the upper eyelid since hair does not grow well on the lower one. Additionally, hairs on the lower lid typically grow straight thus making it hard to trim or curl.
During the consultation, your surgeon shall look for gaps in your eyelids where hair that has been harvested from your head shall be installed.
With accident victims, this might not be feasible as their lids might be badly damaged. In such a case, your doctor might recommend first having your eyelid rebuilt so that you can have a place for the transplant to take place.
They also have to ensure that you can completely shut the eye. This is because trauma victims often have a hard time closing their lids completely, and thus transplanting eyelashes to such a lid could result in the transplanted lashes damaging the eye.
Also, since many people requiring eyelash transplants have suffered from trichotillomania (obsessive plucking out of hair), the surgeon will ensure that they have been cured of this condition and its been over two years since then so that they can be qualified for this treatment. The reason behind this is that someone who hasn’t fully recovered risks relapsing and ripping out the transplanted lashes thus making the entire procedure a waste.
The Procedure
The treatment begins by plucking a section of hair from the back of the patient’s head where the hair is typically longer. Long hair is easy to thread into the lid.
Thus, a small area of the scalp is numbed using a local anesthetic, and then a small strip of hair is plucked, and the scalp sewn back together with stitches. This harvesting rarely takes more than ten minutes.
After the harvesting, the scalp strip is given to a specialist that separates the hair tissue into single hairs under a microscope. The surgeon will then choose the hair grafts that they shall use on you individually. Ideally, they should be about 4 inches long so they can be easily threaded into the lid.
Once they have obtained the hair grafts, they will anesthetize your upper lid and insert the hair grafts using a curved needle. The process is painstakingly long as each hair has to be threaded individually.
As a normal upper eyelid has between 100 and 150 hair lashes, the surgeon will add up to 70 more. This operation might take about four hours. Nevertheless, if your surgeon is good, the treatment will be a success.
Recovery
The patient might take up to five days to recover from the subsequent bruising and swelling around the lid area. Your cosmetic surgeon might advise you not to wash your face for a few days to allow the follicles to settle in. It may take 6 months for the new eyelashes to bloom and be seen at their best.
At times, the new eyelashes may adjust to the properties of the natural lashes, and thus instead of growing as fast as the scalp hair, they will grow more naturally as well as curling themselves in typical lash fashion. This will reduce the frequency of trimming.
As a cosmetic procedure, eyelash transplants are becoming increasingly common. Nevertheless, they are still effective for medical purposes. Also, the success rate of eyelash transplants is typically high and rarely result in complications. Nonetheless, you still have to see a skilled cosmetic surgeon for you to realize these benefits.
People who have lost their lashes due to accidents or other trauma-inducing incidents can have a severely damaged self-esteem due to their appearance.
Also, some of us were not handed the genetic lottery winning ticket for long and curly eyelashes. This does not have to remain the case as eyelash transplants can correct this slight misunderstanding with your maker and get you the lashes you have always wanted. Also, note that using glue-on lashes is detrimental to your actual lashes and may result in permanent damage to them.
The Foundation for Hair Restoration has been providing eyelash transplantation treatments in Miami and New York. We have a team of specialists that have harnessed the skills and experience to ensure you have a successful procedure that you can boast of.