Eyelash Transplant Surgery - Cosmeitcs Surgery News (Beauty pro division)

Think you've seen it all when it comes to cosmetic surgery? Look more closely. Eyelash transplant surgery is set to become the new must-have procedure for women - and the occasional man.

About 30 to 40 hair follicles taken from the back of the head to sew on eyelids for lash transplant. Using procedures pioneered by the hair-loss industry for balding men, US surgeons are using 'plug and sew' techniques to give women long, sweeping lashes once achieved only by glued-on extensions and thick lashings of mascara.

'Eyelash transplantation does for the eyes what breast augmentation does for the figure,' said Florida-based Dr Alan Bauman, a leading proponent of eyelash transplants.

'This is a brand new procedure and it is going to explode,' Dr Bauman added, during what was billed as the world's first live eyelash surgery workshop for 40 surgeons from around the world in California.

Under the procedure, a small cut is made at the back of the scalp to remove 30 or 40 hair follicles which are sewn one by one onto the patient's eyelids.

Only light sedation and local anaesthetics are used and the cost is around US$3,000 ($4,725) an eye.

The technique was first confined to patients who had suffered burns or congenital malformations of the eye. But word spread and about 80 per cent are now done for cosmetic reasons.

Transplanted eyelash grow just like hair from the head. They need to be trimmed and curled.

For many women, eyelash surgery is simply an extra item on the vast nip and tuck menu that has lost its old taboos.

More than 10 million cosmetic procedures - from tummy tucks to botox jabs - were performed in the US last year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The figure represents a 38 per cent increase since 2000.

Ms Erica Lynn, 27, a model with breast implants and a nose job, had eyelash transplants three years ago because she was fed-up with wearing extensions on her sandy-coloured lashes.

'When I found out about it, I just had to have it done. I think eyelashes are awesome,' said Ms Lynn.

The surgery is not for everyone. The transplanted eyelashes grow just like hair on the head and need to be trimmed regularly. Also, a very curly head of hair makes for eyelashes with too much kink.