No matter how you slice it, much of our identity and self-esteem is tied to our appearance. Hair including eyebrow hair is a big factor for both men and women. So when you started losing hair or notice thinning, it’s natural to go into crisis mode and seek solutions.
About 80% of men and almost 50% of women will experience serious hair loss at some point in their lives. You may have an idea about how you’d handle the loss of hair on your head, but what do you do if it involves your eyebrows?
People deal with thinning eyebrows for several reasons. Here’s what you should know about thinning eyebrows and how you can address this issue.
Causes for Thinning Eyebrows
Once you know the cause of your thinning eyebrows, you’ll have a better chance of helping to counteract it.
These issues are some of the most common reasons for thin or thinning eyebrows:
Genetics
Some individuals have thin eyebrows due to genetic factors.
Overplucking
Repeated plucking of eyebrow hair can lead to permanent loss of that hair. Many individuals suffer from thin eyebrows from years or decades of overplucking.
Scar Tissue
Scar tissue such as following trauma can lead to thin or complete loss of hairs in the eyebrows.
Certain Types of Alopecia
Certain types of alopecia such as autoimmune hair loss (alopecia areata) or other inflammatory types of hair loss (like frontal fibrosing alopecia) can lead to eyebrow loss. It is important to see a medical professional to rule out these types of hair loss prior to considering treatments like eyebrow transplant surgery.
Internal Conditions
Certain internal conditions such as iron deficiency, thyroid disorders, and low Vitamin D may cause increased shedding of hair including scalp hair and hair in other areas such as eyebrow hair. If you notice increased shedding, then you should see your doctor for an appropriate work up. Thyroid disorders typically cause loss or thinning of the outer 1/3 of the eyebrow. If you are noticing thin brows in the outer 1/3, then you may want to discuss checking your thyroid levels with your doctor.
Skin Issues Play a Role
There are also several skin issues that might cause you to experience thinning eyebrows. If you are experiencing any kind of rash or redness, itching, scaling, or irritation of the eyebrows, then this skin irritation and/or inflammation may be contributing to your eyebrow thinning or loss. It is important to have these skin conditions treated as the eyebrow loss may improve once the underlying skin condition is addressed. Common causes of this include psoriasis and dermatitis such as eczema and dandruff/seborrheic dermatitis.
Life Changes Are at Play
There are also several life reasons that might cause you to start losing eyebrow hair. Pregnancy and childbirth are among the most significant. You experience several hormone spikes and fluctuations when carrying a child and breastfeeding. These hormonal changes can affect hair growth all over your body, eyebrows included. This is also a significant stressor on the body.
Aging is another life issue that can contribute to gradual thinning of hair including eyebrow hair over time.
Stress is another major factor that causes people to lose hair including potentially eyebrow hair.
Other Rare Causes
Other rare conditions such as leprosy can present with eyebrow loss. Make sure to mention to your doctor if you have had contact with leprosy, been in areas with high levels of leprosy, contact with armadillos, or have other symptoms such as joint pain, light spots on the skin, rashes on the skin, nodules on the skin, thick or dy skin, ulcers, reduced sensation to touch, pins and needles, loss of temperature sensation in certain parts of the body including the extremities, or muscle weakness or paralysis especially in the hands or feet.
How to Treat and Prevent Thinning Eyebrows
The good news is that there are several ways to deal with thinning eyebrows. When you know the cause of your eyebrow thinning, you’ll have a better idea of which remedy or prevention tools to use. Thus it is important to see your doctor to determine the cause if you are noticing thinning eyebrows.
If there is an underlying cause that can be addressed, then the treatment may be just that. If there are factors like scarring, genetics or aging that cannot be addressed then other methods of eyebrow restoration may be recommended such as the following:
Visit the Doctor
Again the most important piece is to visit a doctor specializing in hair loss for evaluation to determine the cause of the eyebrow thinning. If needed they may order bloodwork to help determine if you have nutritional deficiencies, thyroid dysufnction or other health issues. You might also need to visit the dermatologist if there are skin issues that are causing the hair loss. The doctor will help you get to the root of the issue so you can explore treatment options.
Look Into Topical Treatments
There are several topical treatments that may be discussed with you by a hair loss specialist to stimulate hair growth. You’ll rub the topical ointment, gel, solution or cream on your eyebrow region to support the hair follicles. This works best if there are existing hair follicles in the area. If there are little to no hair follicles in the area then this is less likely to be effective.
If any product causes irritation, redness, scaling, itching, darkening, pigmentation or depression of the skin or sunkeness of the surroudning tissue then it should be discontinued. Make sure to apply any topicals sparingly to the eyebrow and to not allow any topical products to drip down onto the eyelids or into the eye. Make sure to discuss any treatment including topical treatments with your doctor before starting.
Undergo Eyebrow Transplant
You might also choose to explore an eyebrow transplant surgery.
This procedure can increase hair density in areas with sparse or thin eyebrow hair. These results are typically long lasting and can be considering in cases where the eyebrow thinning is from genetics, aging, scar tissue from trauma, overplucking etc. This is not recommended when there is an addressable underlying cause that should be treated.
Restore Thin Eyebrows
If you want to determine what type of eyebrow thinning you have, you should schedule an appointment with a board-certified dermatologist.
If you know what kind of eyebrow thinning your have and are considering eyebrow transplant, then you should schedule an appointment with a hair restoration surgeon to find out more about the procedure, such as our doctors at Root Hair Institute.
Root Hair Institute is located in the Greater Seattle area. If you are interested in eyebrow transplant and are willing to have your procedure in the Greater Seattle area, then schedule a consultation, send us a message or call us at 425-947-9485.