If the hair removal was performed with an electrical epilator the news may not be so promising. Epilators are not gentle when it comes to hair removal and the damage to the hair follicles could be permanent. This may mean that you may very likely be left with sparse eyebrow hair or bald patches in the eyebrows.

The regrowth of eyebrow hair is not a quick process. In fact it can take up to 2 months for plucked eyebrow hairs to grow back to the point they were at before they were plucked. Similarly if you are concerned that the quality of the hair, i.e. that the hair will grow back thinner or thicker or darker or lighter, is going to change as a result of the plucking. This is not the case. The eyebrow hair that regrows will come back as the same quality hair that was always there.

All of the above information assumes that the plucking is not part of a long-running routine of eyebrow plucking. If you regularly have your eyebrows plucked there is a good chance that the eyebrow follicles have become damaged over time. Eyebrow hair follicles are a very sensitive part of the body and are susceptible to becoming damaged and if they are damaged they will never be able to produce hair again.

Remember, the way you pluck your eyebrows can have a significant effect on the eyebrow hair follicles. Quick plucking motions should be made and the plucking should be carried out in the same direction to which the hair lies to minimize the trauma.

Everyone is different and each person’s body is going to react in a different way to whatever action is taken to it. Some people may have a greater tolerance to eyebrow hair plucking than others, some may lose their eyebrows completely after only having them plucked the one time. It is always best to seek the advice of a medical professional who is qualified to examine your specific circumstance and give you advice based on that.

Eyebrow regrowth after chemo is one of the aspects of recovery that can be the most frustrating as eyebrow growth is typically much slower than the growth of scalp hair. It can be up to 3 months before the eyebrow hair begins to grow back with enough vigor to be discernable and for some people they may never grow back to the same extent as they were originally.

It may take some time for the body to settle down and for the natural hormones to get back to their normal job. In the meantime it would be helpful to the body’s creation of eyebrows if you were to eat a healthy diet. In order to grow hair the body needs to have a strong supply of Vitamin A, C, B3 and E, all of which are found in what is considered a healthy balanced diet. Further folic acid supplements would also be helpful as a means of stimulating the hair follicles back into action.

A little extra stimulation would not be a bad idea either. This can be done with an eyebrow brush, brushing it over the area in the direction that the eyebrows grow. A 2 minute routine of eyebrow brushing may help to stimulate the area.

You may find some advice on what to do to ensure that you don’t lose your eyebrow hair once the chemo treatment has started. Unfortunately there is no sure fire solution with the final reaction to the treatment different from one person to the next. The drugs used with chemotherapy cause all sorts of things to happen inside your body and the effects can linger for some time after treatment has completed.

Some hair growth treatments such as Minoxidil (which is better known by the brand name Rogaine) can be applied to the eyebrow area in an effort to promote new growth. This is a solution that could work, but only when your eyebrows have reached the point where they are ready to start growing again. What it might do is help your eyebrows to grow back thicker. Many people who have been through chemo find that while their eyebrows do regrow, they don’t come back as thickly as before. Rogaine can be a method you can try to avoid the eyebrow thinning effect.

Some claims are that castor oil nourishes the thyroid and endocrine system to bring your body to its maximum health. Through the increased health of your entire body enhanced eyebrow grow will follow.

There have been some fairly heated discussions about the use of castor oil with mixed reports about the effects of castor oil on the eyebrows. Some people have complained that applying castor oil to the eyebrows in the hopes of making them grow thicker has caused the opposite effect and their eyebrows actually fell out. Others have claimed that their eyebrows initially fell out, but then they regrew even thicker.

Applying castor oil around the eyes can be dangerous to the eyes and to the skin surrounding the eyes. It can cause irritation and puffiness to the eye. Still more people have complained that applying castor oil has resulted in sties due to the pores of their skin being blocked.

I have seen advice given by numerous people claiming that castor oil, when rubbed into the eyebrows or eyelashes once or twice a day will result in thicker eyebrows. Not only that but they will grow back more quickly. What I haven’t seen is any expert or scientific explanation as to why this may work.

Take this quote from one person espousing the use of castor oil “The first thing is to start applying castor oil to your eyebrows overnight. Castor oil has the specific property of making any kind of hair grow miraculously fast.” This person gives absolutely no explanation about how much to use, where exactly to apply the castor oil or the reasons why castor oil helps your eyebrows to regrow. There is also no warning about any possible side effects, as there must be if it is potent enough to cause a “miraculous” change to your body’s functions.

The nearest expert or authoritative comment I have found that could suggest that castor oil is effective in eyebrow growth comes from the FDA which categorizes castor oil as being able to Castor oil penetrate deep into the skin thanks to its molecular weight, which is low enough to penetrate into the stratum corneum. Castor Isostearate Succinate is a polymeric mixture of esters with Isostearic Acid and Succinic Acid used for skin conditioning, such as in shampoo, lipstick and lip balm.

The FDA report above can explain how castor oil applied externally can have an effect on eyebrow growth which relies on hair follicles beneath the skin to produce hair. Yet there are still no clues about the chemical properties that can stimulate any growth.

From what I can see you would use castor oil to promote eyebrow hair regrowth at your own risk. There is no guarantee that the result will be any increase in the growth of your eyebrows and there is actually the risk that it will cause the eyebrows to thin instead. The further risk that skin and eye irritation could be the result is very real.

Before putting anything on your eyebrows I would recommend that you see your family doctor and question them about using it. Beware of advice that is given without any solid evidentiary backing.

When hair is ripped out of the skin it is also ripped out of the hair follicles from where it is growing. During the growth cycle of a hair there are times when the hair will slip out of the follicle easily because one of the stages is a stage where hair falls out naturally. Pulling out hairs that are at this stage should not cause any damage.

But earlier in the growth cycle, the hair is healthy and growing and is well rooted to the spot. Pulling the hair out at this stage can cause significant damage to the hair follicle to the point where it will not be capable of producing new hair.

An extreme case of over plucking is known as trichotillomania, a compulsive urge to pluck hairs all of the time. Constant plucking of the eyebrows like this is inevitably going to damage all of your hair follicles and they will never replace the plucked hair again.

The Correct Way To Pluck Eyebrows

There is a right way to pluck eyebrows so that you reduce the chance of causing permanent damage. The tip is that you should pluck the hairs underneath the eyebrow arch from below and always in the direction that the hair grows.

A couple of tricks that will also assist in the plucking process is to do the plucking either after bathing when the skin pores have been opened up or after warming the eyebrows with hot compresses.

Aim to pluck the eyebrow hairs one at a time so that you are in more control and you don’t inadvertantly pluck hairs that you don’t intend plucking. Draw the skin tightly to help make the process cleaner, this will also hurt less.

There may be some options available to try to get your eyebrows to regrow but the first step that should be taken is to visit your local physician.

If the news is not promising it might come down to finding a permanent eyebrow replacement option such as eyebrow tattooing or eyebrow transplant surgery.

Before we get started on any specific medications it should be noted that eyebrow growth is part of the growth cycle of your body and the hairs will continue to grow and fall out naturally. There is no guarantee that your eyebrow hair will respond to the application of any hair loss medication no matter how strong the claim may be that it will work.

Possibly the best known regrowth product is Rogaine which uses a drug called minoxidil. Minoxidil was originally created to help people with high blood pressure but it had an interesting side effect in that it was noticed there was increased hair growth in patients. This then led to the use of the drug in the treatment of male-pattern baldness.

Just like with scalp hair, eyebrow hair loss can be reversed by stimulating the hair follicles responsible for producing healthy hair. Minoxidil will work on these follicles exactly the same way as it does on the scalp. The only difference is that eyebrow hair growth happens at a much slower rate than scalp hair and so the results will take longer to become apparent.

There are warnings related to the use of minoxidil involve possible adverse reactions that lead to flaky skin or scalp irritation. This will also apply to use on the eyebrows with the possibility of itchiness to the eyebrows after prolonged application.

Another topical treatment that is available is the use of copper peptides which shorten the resting period undertaken by the hair follicles. In effect the growing phase is increased giving more time for growth to take place and less time to the resting and falling out part of the cycle.

Other medications which help in hair growth includes Avodart with the active ingredient Dutasteride and Propecia which contains Finasteride. Both of these products are used in treating male pattern baldness but results are not clear as to whether they are effective in helping with eyebrow regrowth.

There are more methods of eyebrow enhancement available and most of them will give you quicker results but this method attempts to assist the follicles in becoming stronger and more healthy.

More information about alternative methods of eyebrow regrowth or eyebrow replacement is available on the following pages.

Vitamins For Eyebrow Regrowth
Eyebrow Replacement Options – discussing more permanent solutions when it is not possible to regrow eyebrow hair.

In each of these cases the hair follicles may have been damaged beyond repair making the prospect of ever regrowing eyebrows impossible. Alternatively, long term chemotherapy may result in eyebrow loss just as it does with scalp hair and if the treatment is going to continue over an extended period of time, there will be no eyebrow regrowth in the near future.

Semi-Permanent Eyebrow Make Up

If the eyebrow hair loss is going to be long term but not permanent the answer might be to apply makeup to the eyebrows to give the appearance that they exist. A process known as semi-permanent makeup or micropigmentation is a method of restoring the appearance of the eyebrow.

Two techniques are seen to be effective in restoring the appearance of eyebrows. The first is the hair stroke method in which precise drawing of the eyebrows is done by a makeup artist in such a way that it mimics each individual strand of eyebrow hair. This is an option that requires a skilled practitioner to achieve effectively. The second option is powdering which entails mimicking the effects of an eyebrow pencil to draw in full eyebrows that simply look like they have make up applied to them.

Semi-permanent makeup does not disturb the deeper layers of the skin so the pigment will not be retained but it will last long enough so that you won’t have to worry about re-applying makeup every day or that your eyebrows are smudged.

Eyebrow Tattooing

A more permanent option for someone, usually women, who has suffered eyebrow hair loss is eyebrow tattooing. This is a practical solution for someone who has lost their hair because of illness or from conditions such as alopecia. Eyebrow tattoos might be the direction to take if you are allergic to cosmetics or if you are simply unable to apply makeup every day.

Eyebrow tattoos can either be applied with a tattoo gun or by hand with the handwork resulting in the finer and more detailed work. In short, hand tattooing allows the professional to make the work look more like individual eyebrow hairs.

Eyebrow tattooing is a reasonable solution for someone who has exhausted the eyebrow regrowth options and who wants to give their eyes their old framed definition again.

Eyebrow Transplants

A surgical procedure is available for men and women who have permanently lost part or all of their eyebrows. Eyebrow transplant surgery is an option that involves the strand by strand transplantation of hair follicles from other parts of the body, either the scalp or the leg, to the eyebrow. The procedure usually involves extracting hair follicles from a part of the body where the hair grows more finely and then placed into incisions prepared ahead of time as grafts.

The procedure can involve up to 400 individual hairs per eyebrow that would all be placed into their new positions.

Because eyebrow hair lies flat to the head, the transplantation is done very carefully so that the new eyebrow hair sits naturally on the face. After the transplant is completed it will take some time before the results become obvious.

Before eyebrow transplant surgery can take place the patient has to be assessed as to whether they are a suitable candidate. Some people lose their eyebrows through a condition known as trichotillomania which is an obsessive urge to pluck hair. Others may be recovering from disease or have severe scar tissue as a result of some kind of trauma. Each of these cases would have to be assessed and be seen to be under control before surgery is undergone.

Poor nutrition has been known to result in hair thinning and this comes about through the health of the hair follicles. If you body is generally unhealthy then there will be a risk that the body’s ability to produce healthy hair will be reduced. Your eyebrows are included in this growth ability and if it is something that concerns you then it is advisable to give some consideration to increasing the intake of the following vitamins and minerals.

• Protein – needed to grow healthy hair, if you don’t get enough protein the hair may thin to the point of balding.
• Beta-Carotene – found in fruits and vegetables this is converted to vitamin A. Vitamin A is required to aid in the making of healthy sebum.
• Vitamin E – needed for increased circulation near the surface of the skin
• Vitamin C
• Folic Acid – required to stimulate the hair follicles into action, this is one of the most important factors to increase the possibility of regrowing your eyebrows.

Basically, each of these supplements constitute part of a healthy diet and should be able to be attained by eating the right foods. Even though the diet may improve, don’t expect an immediate regrowth of eyebrows. Eyebrows are extremely slow growing and even if you create the perfect growing conditions for them it will still take at least 8 weeks before any real difference is noted.

It should also be noted that sometimes eyebrow regrowth may simply not be possible. If the eyebrow follicles are damaged to the extent that they cannot be revived then no matter how good your diet is and how much extra protein you take, there won’t be any new growth forthcoming. In that case other options will have to be taken.

You local doctor can help with advice on whether a dietary change is necessary to help with your eyebrow loss. While we’re at it, never undertake a new vitamin supplement regime without first consulting your doctor. There may be other medications or conditions that will be adversely affected by the vitamins you start taking.

Eyebrow growth is not always certain and there may be contributing reasons for the loss of eyebrow hair. It may be an indicator that there are other related medical reasons causing the loss. Medical advice is the best way to determine the exact reasons for any sudden eyebrow hair loss.