As you age, certain bodily changes start taking place. Some may come on so slowly and subtly, you barely notice them from year to year — like laugh lines and crow’s feet, stray grey hairs, and thinning eyebrows.

That’s right, our eyebrows can show signs of aging, too. Here’s why your eyebrows might be thinning (and what you can do about it).

Causes of Thinning Eyebrows

• Much like those on your head, eyebrow hair follicles age and can lead to thinner, more sparse-looking brows.
• Eyebrow hair loss is a common symptom of thyroid deficiency. If you notice thinning eyebrows, consider contacting your primary care physician to have your thyroid checked.
• Thinning brows also can be caused by a nutritional deficiency, specifically iron. Supplements may help, but see your doctor before you start taking anything.
• Atopic dermatitis, eczema, and other skin conditions can lead to thinning brows. Inflammation of the skin around the brow area and itching can cause the hair to thin.
• Sudden hormonal changes in women can cause telogen effluvium (sudden hair loss) on both the scalp and brow area. Many women experience this postpartum as well as during menopause.
• As with scalp hair loss, genetics can play a role in dictating at what age, if at all, you’ll notice changes in your brows’ fullness.
• Over-grooming can cause permanent thinning or make any of the above factors worse. If you’ve over-tweezed, plucked, or waxed earlier in life, hair follicles could have suffered trauma and died.

Fuller, Thicker Eyebrows

Regardless of the causes, here are some steps you can take to help keep your brows looking full and thick.

Groom with caution. Instead of keeping weekly brow maintenance appointments, consider taking a more natural approach. That’s because waxing, tweezing, and threading inflicts trauma on hair follicles, resulting in permanent damage. If you grew up during the pencil-thin eyebrow trend, you likely know how difficult it is to regrow lost hair. Try to extend the amount of time between appointments, or do away with waxing, threading, or tweezing altogether. Instead, opt for an eyebrow razor.

Fake, fuller brows. Choose a good quality eyebrow pencil and powder to fill in brows with gentle, hair-like strokes, and finish with a tinted eyebrow gel which will keep them in place and achieve a more natural look.

Consider a more permanent solution. An eyebrow transplant may be the answer for those individuals who are experiencing permanent eyebrow hair loss. Much like a traditional hair transplant, hair grafts are taken from hairs above your ears and transferred to your brow area. And because hair follicles are transferred, not just the individual hairs, this ensures that new hairs are able to grow once initially transferred hairs fall out.

If you’re unhappy with the look of your eyebrows or your own attempts to correct the problem, contact DiStefano today to schedule a free consultation. We offer solutions you can live with — permanently.