Grey hair, crow’s feet, and laugh lines aren’t the only telltale signs of aging. As the years pass by, you may notice your once thick and full eyebrows looking a little sparse. What may have been a low – or no – maintenance morning routine might start taking more time to fill in your brows with pencils, gels, and brushes. So, what gives? Why is this prominent facial feature gradual thinning out?

Yes, age is one factor. But it’s not the only one.

Getting to the Root of Eyebrow Hair Loss

Like the hair on your head, eyebrow hair is not a rare event. As for treatment, well, that depends on the cause.

• Alopecia Areata – An autoimmune disease that is often responsible for one’s hair loss on the head can also affect the eyebrows. It occurs when the immune system mistakenly targets and attacks eyebrow follicles and slows or stops eyebrow hair production.
• Nutritional Deficiency – To function at its best, your body requires a healthy balance of amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Lacking the essential nutrients that influence hair health and growth can result in hair loss, including eyebrows.
• Skin Conditions – A variety of skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis can block hair follicles from growing hair properly, resulting in thinning or loss.
• Thyroid Disease – Located at the front of the neck, the thyroid gland produces hormones that regulate metabolism. Over- or under-production of a hormone can disrupt your body’s normal processes and functions.
• Excessive Anxiety or Stress – Psychological issues have been found to contribute to hair loss, including eyebrows. If you have recently experienced a major lifestyle change or trauma, or suffer from high levels of stress, you may notice hair thinning or loss.
• Telogen Effluvium – TE is a dramatic but temporary loss of hair that occurs when the normal hair growth cycle is interrupted due to stress, sudden or drastic changes in diet, illness, medications, or other changes in your chemistry.
• Scar Tissue – Burns, trauma, and skin conditions can leave scar tissue preventing hair from growing in that area.
• Chemotherapy – Since chemotherapy is specifically designed to affect all rapidly dividing cells, including hair follicles, it can stifle hair production.

Tips for Thicker Looking Brows

Embrace a more natural, hands-off approach to brow care and avoid over-plucking, waxing, and threading which can lead to permanent follicular damage over time. Instead, make your brows appear to be fully by applying a good quality eyebrow pencil or gel, applying in fine, hair-like strokes for a more natural appearance. For a semi-permanent solution, consider microblading. The result will look more natural than tattooing or permanent makeup as it is done by hand versus a machine and doesn’t penetrate the skin as deeply.

For a truly natural and permanent solution, try eyebrow hair restoration, expertly performed by the medical team at DiStefano Hair Restoration Center. We’ll take a graft of donor hair and implant it into the eyebrow. To learn more and find out if an eyebrow hair transplant is right for you, contact us today to schedule a free consultation.