If you are wondering whether eyebrows grow back, you may be experiencing a form of alopecia areata, a dermatological condition or a hormonal imbalance that caused them to fall out. Or you may simply want to learn how to grow back overplucked eyebrows.
The good news is that, in most cases, your eyebrows will grow back naturally or with some therapeutic intervention. And if all else fails, you may be a good candidate for a simple and effective eyebrow transplant that can make them look as good as new.
Keep reading this article to discover all you need to know about eyebrow hair loss, such as:
In most cases, eyebrows have a good chance of growing back either naturally, over time or with hair growth treatment. However, that is not always the case. The likelihood of your eyebrows growing back depends on the reason why they have fallen out in the first place.
Several conditions can cause madarosis (eyebrow or eyelash hair loss), each with its own chances of regrowth. Here are some of the most common and the likelihood of your eyebrows growing back upon experiencing them [1][2][3]:
Regularly overplucking your eyebrows can damage your hair follicles, hindering normal hair regrowth. It is often reversible. But it can take some time for the follicles to heal enough to achieve regrowth. However, if you see no results in 4 months, it is best to see a trichologist, as you may be experiencing permanent damage.
Shaving your eyebrows off to try a new look is less invasive and should not affect normal facial hair regrowth. While you may start seeing regrowth within days, it normally takes 5-6 weeks to fully grow your eyebrows after shaving them.
Some of the skin conditions that can affect your face and scalp will sometimes affect your eyebrow area. Seborrheic dermatitis and eczema are some of the most common dermatological problems that can make your eyebrows fall out, due to local inflammation. The good news is they will grow back once the conditions have been managed or the flare-up subsides.
Accidents such as cuts, burns or severe scrapes on your eyebrows can destroy local hair follicles and cause scarring that prevents new hair growth. If you have experienced such an accident that left you with bald scars, it is sadly unlikely that you will achieve regrowth through non-surgical means. However, you may still be a good candidate for an eyebrow transplant.
Certain autoimmune types of alopecia, such as alopecia areata, frontal fibrosing alopecia or discoid lupus can lead to full or partial eyebrow loss. That is because your white blood cells attack your hair follicles.
In some cases, in alopecia areata, the hair will grow back on its own (often within the year), but in others, it will require corticosteroid treatment. Frontal fibrosing alopecia is unlikely to improve without steroid treatment and can sometimes cause permanent hair and eyebrow loss. Controlling discoid lupus symptoms will often lead to eyebrow restoration, but in some cases, scarring alopecia may occur.
This may not be common knowledge, but psoriasis is also an autoimmune condition. And just like scalp psoriasis can cause hair loss, if a flare-up affects your eyebrow area, it can cause the small hairs to fall out. Fortunately, they will normally grow back after the flare-up resolves.
Thyroid disorders that cause hair loss, such as hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, can also make your eyebrows fall out. If you have hypothyroidism, you may notice a common symptom called the Queen Anne sign [5], where the outer third of your eyebrows goes bald. The remaining facial hair may thin as well.
In most cases, balancing your hormones can help achieve some eyebrow regrowth. However, this can take months and in some people, they may remain patchy or incomplete or may fail to regrow altogether.
Stress and anxiety can cause hair loss, and not just from your scalp. Experiencing a significant physical or psychological trauma can trigger a condition called telogen effluvium, which leads to diffuse hair thinning.
In some cases, it can also affect your eyebrows, making them thin out. However, you should not be experiencing significant bald spots or full eyebrow loss with this type of alopecia. Once the cause of the initial stress is resolved, your hair and eyebrows should soon start growing back.
Another psychological condition that causes eyebrow loss is trichotillomania. People who experience this form of obsessive-compulsive disorder pull hair out from a certain part of their scalp or face, such as their eyebrows, when bored or stressed.
Treatment for trichotillomania usually consists of cognitive-behavioural therapy. Fortunately, while it may take some time, eyebrows will normally grow back once they are no longer pulled out and the follicles have had enough time to heal.
Overdosing on Vitamin A [7][1] can make your hair fall out and your eyebrows alongside it. Normally, flushing the excess nutrient from your system will usually lead to eyebrow regrowth. However, it can take some time before your scalp and facial hair return to their original thickness and density.
Chemotherapy hair loss can also be considered a form of toxicity, as the treatment is meant to attack rapidly dividing cells. These types of cells make up cancerous tumours but are also present in your hair follicles. So, your hair and eyebrows may be collateral damage. Fortunately, in most cases, hair growth will resume naturally once your treatment has been completed.
Just like getting too much of certain nutrients can lead to balding, getting too little can also make your eyebrows fall out. Clinical deficiency of vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc, selenium or vitamins A, B, C, D or E can lead to hair shedding from your scalp and face, eyebrows included. In many cases, supplementation may solve this problem, but in some people, regrowth can be incomplete or not happen at all.
While your scalp hair growth cycle can take almost a decade to complete, the eyebrow growth cycle is much shorter. Its growth phase lasts, on average, 2-3 months, its transition phase takes about 2-3 weeks, while its shedding phase 2-3 months long as well [3].
This means that once the reason your eyebrows fell out has been eliminated (through treatment, supplementation, exposure cessation, etc.), you should normally be able to see new hair growth after about 3 months. However, this can take longer if your hair follicles have been damaged and need to recover (e.g. from overplucking).
Since your eyebrows gain approximately 0.12-0.14 mm a day in their growth phase [3], it may take some patience to get them back to full size. But if more than 4 months have passed and there is still no sign of regrowth, it is best to see a trichologist for diagnosis and personalised treatment.
If you are using treatments such as Minoxidil or corticosteroids for your eyebrow regrowth, remember that they do not work overnight – it can sometimes take weeks or months to see results.
The best thing you can do when you are experiencing eyebrow loss is to see a hair doctor. They will examine you carefully and perform the necessary diagnostic trichology tests (e.g. a dermoscopy or blood tests for hair loss) to determine the exact cause of your thinning.
Then, by case, they may refer you to the appropriate medical specialist to treat an underlying systemic health issue (e.g. endocrinologist, psychologist, or GP), or they may recommend hair growth treatments and therapies that may include:
While treatment can help, there are also some life changes that can help your eyebrow regrowth. Here are some of the most important:
Overplucking your eyebrows can cause lasting, sometimes permanent damage to their follicles, resulting in patchiness and thinning. If you see signs of eyebrow loss, take a break from waxing or plucking for a while. If you really feel the need to correct their shape, a shaving pen can be a less invasive alternative.
Getting all the necessary minerals and vitamins can promote hair growth, which includes your eyebrows. A healthy hair diet, with sufficient iron, zinc, selenium, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E can keep your hair and eyebrows healthier and more beautiful.
Smoking can cause hair loss and it can also make your eyebrows thin out. That is because nicotine is a vasoconstrictor – it makes the thin blood vessels in your brow narrow, reducing the flow of oxygen and nutrients to your eyebrow follicles. It also causes inflammation in your body which can affect your hair follicles.
A stressful life can lead to hair and eyebrow thinning, among other potentially more serious negative health effects. Try setting some time aside each day to relax, meditate, exercise, or socialise with loved ones. If the daily pressure becomes too much, do not hesitate to see a mental health specialist.
In some cases, eyebrow loss can be resistant to non-surgical treatment. That means that no matter how many medications and therapies you undergo, your eyebrows may simply not grow back. If that happens, you have 2 options:
In this day and age, there are many effective cosmetic solutions to mask dwindling eyebrows. Here are some of the most popular choices:
Eyebrow tattooing
This type of semi-permanent makeup can be used for both full or partial eyebrow loss (with better results for partial). A technician will insert pigment in your brow skin in the desired shape of your eyebrows. Eyebrow tattooing will give them contour and definition and mask any bald spots. It usually lasts 1-3 years before needing to be refreshed.
Eyebrow microblading
This technique is similar to eyebrow tattooing, but it is less invasive. It involves making superficial incisions on your brow and rubbing pigment inside them to create the desired shape. The incisions can last 1-1.5 years before requiring a touch-up.
Eyebrow pens
If you don’t mind drawing your eyebrows on daily, a good, water-proof, smudge-resistant pen with a microblading-like appearance might be your best choice. Some pens have multiple tips, making eyebrow design easier and giving it a more natural, strand-by-strand look.
If you have tried non-surgical treatments to no avail, you may still be able to get fuller eyebrows with an eyebrow transplant [12]. Surgical eyebrow restoration is safe, painless and increasingly popular. And using the FUE technique leaves virtually no scarring, making the results appear fully natural.
More and more celebrities are getting eyebrow transplants to help them look fabulous and escape the hassle of constantly touching up their brows. While they could simply try a temporary solution, an eyebrow transplant is better than microblading or eyebrow tattoos. That is because just like a regular hair transplant is permanent, so is surgical eyebrow restoration – you don’t need to worry about having to get it refreshed periodically.
The best hair transplant clinics in the UK have excellent success rates, making it almost unheard of for an eyebrow transplant to go wrong (as it can sometimes happen with procedures performed abroad).
So if you are interested in getting your eyebrows surgically restored, book a consultation with our top-tier surgeons today. They will determine if you are a good candidate for the procedure and patiently answer all of your questions, setting you on your way to having full, gorgeous eyebrows once again.
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