Los Angeles — Reuters reports that cosmetic surgeons are using “plug and sew” hair-restoration techniques, typically used on balding men, to give women longer eyelashes once achieved only by glued-on extensions or heavy applications of mascara.
During what was billed as “the world’s first live eyelash-surgery workshop,” held here and attended by some 40 surgeons, Reuters reports that eyelash-transplant proponent Alan Bauman, M.D., said, “This is a brand new procedure for the general public [and] it is going to explode.”
The procedure calls for a small incision to be made at the back of the scalp to remove 30 or 40 hair follicles, which are then carefully sewn onto the patient’s eyelids. Only light sedation and local anesthetics are used. Reuters reports that the procedure costs about $3,000 per eye. The technique was first used on patients who had suffered burns or had eye malformations; now, reports Reuters, about 80 percent of the procedures are done for cosmetic reasons.
The transplanted eyelashes reportedly grow like head hair and need to be trimmed regularly.
