Whether you’re moving on from your skinny eyebrow era, saying bye-bye to the bleached brow trend, or have just noticed that your arches aren’t as full as they once were, you’re probably wondering if they’ll grow back at all. First things first: don’t panic. Brow regrowth is possible. But how long it takes for eyebrows to grow back has a more complicated answer.
There are numerous reasons why your eyebrows could take longer to grow back. Most commonly, it’s caused by over-plucking hair, but there are a few less obvious culprits, including genetics and underlying health conditions. To assist in your eyebrow-growing journey, we asked board-certified dermatologists Michele Green, MD, and Brendan Camp, MD, as well as certified trichologist Gretchen Friese, for their advice on how to get your brows back, plus treatment options.
Ahead, all of your questions about brow loss and how long it takes for eyebrows to grow back answered by the pros.
Meet the Expert
- Michele Green, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist specializing in cosmetic dermatology on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NY.
- Brendan Camp, MD, is a double board-certified dermatologist at MDCS: Medical Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery.
- Gretchen Friese is a BosleyMD certified trichologist.
Common Causes of Eyebrow Loss
There are many, many things that can lead to less-than-full arches. Here are the most common reasons:
- Overplucking: According to Friese, over-plucking or waxing can lead to thinner brows and potentially even kill the follicle, so the hair will never grow back. Moreover, she says that excessive itching or rubbing your arches can lead to inadvertently pulling hairs out.
- Genetics: Green notes that genetics, reproductive and aging hormones, lifestyle, stress, vitamin deficiency, alopecia, and eczema can also play a role.
- Underlying Health Conditions: According to Camp, infections, skin disorders, thyroid disease, autoimmune disorders, and even leprosy can cause hair loss. Friese explains the two most common underlying conditions, saying, “Eczema is caused by an oversensitive immune system. Due to this, hair follicles are impacted in the skin, which may delay the growth of hair. There is also Psoriasis. This a long-term autoimmune disease with no cure that causes skin cells to multiply just around 10 times faster than normal. In most cases, this can cause painful patches that block hair follicles and stops hair growth, which can lead to the lack of hair follicles in your eyebrows.”
- Aging: As we get older, the natural aging process thins the hairs on our bodies, including our eyebrows.
The best way to determine what’s causing your hair loss is to work with a dermatologist or trichologist to find the underlying issue or medical condition. Once you do that, you can best address your hair loss.
Do Eyebrows Grow Back?
Rest assured, eyebrows can grow back. However, it depends on the reason for your loss to determine whether or not yours, in particular, will.
“Depending on the etiology or cause of eyebrow thinning, the hair may or may not grow back,” Camp says. “For example, eyebrow loss from alopecia areata can often be successfully treated with in-office treatments like cortisone injections and hair loss from too much plucking or tweezing can improve by simply stopping. Less common forms of hair loss such as frontal fibrosing alopecia can cause scarring that can lead to permanent hair loss.”
The issue arises when your loss is due to a dead follicle. “If the eyebrow follicle is still alive, the hair will grow back just like the hair on our heads,” Friese says. “If the follicle is lying dormant, it may need a little help.” But, if the follicle has been repeatedly damaged, Camp says that hope for growth may be unmet. “When hair is removed from the root repeatedly over time, the mechanical stress on the follicle may damage it enough so that it does not grow back, leading to sparse growth,” he explains.
How Long Does it Typically Take For Eyebrows to Grow Back?
As a general rule of thumb, Friese says it takes anywhere from four to eight weeks post-removal to notice new hairs, though the actual brow growth cycle typically takes three to four months. To better illustrate this, check out the growth cycles below.
- The Growth Phase (aka Anagen Phase): This is the first phase of brow growth (and it goes for regular hair, too). “This is where the eyebrow grows to their predetermined limit,” Green says. “This phase can last from 30 to 45 days.”
- The Transition Phase (aka Catagen Phase): During this phase, the follicle moves closer to the skin and begins to shrink before reaching the third and final stage. “This phase can last from two to three weeks,” Green says.
- The Resting/Shedding Phase (aka Telogen Phase): This final stage of the growth cycle is also where the new hair grows from the hair follicle. “As the eyebrow grows, the old hair will fall off, and the new strand will continue to grow and start the cycle all over again,” Green explains, noting that this phase can last anywhere from four to eight weeks.
In total, the entire hair growth cycle comes out to roughly four months. That said, if the hair was simply shaved and not plucked, it wouldn’t take nearly as long, as the entire hair doesn’t have to regrow from the follicle.
What Can Cause Slow Eyebrow Growth?
Friese says multiple factors can inhibit hair growth on the head as well as stop eyebrow growth in its tracks, such as:
- Stress
- Hormone changes
- Thyroid issues
- Alopecia
- Lifestyle habits
- Environmental pollution
- Trichotillomania
- Frequent grooming
While specific hair disorders and forms of grooming and plucking are obvious in their ability to halt growth, what’s not so apparent is how environmental and lifestyle habits can also play a role.
“Studies have shown toxins and carcinogens in polluted air can interfere with the protein-producing processes within the body which stimulate hair growth,” Green says. Additionally, she points out that major lifestyle changes can lead to internal stress that shows in loss or slow regrowth. “Hair follicles do not continuously produce hair, but instead go through carefully timed cycles of growth and shedding. Any major lifestyle changes such as pregnancy, hormonal imbalance, Thyroid issues, significant physical trauma, such as waxing, threading, and over plucking, can disrupt that cycle and cause the follicles to shed hair.”
How to Speed Up Eyebrow Growth
Fortunately, there are ingredients and products that accelerate your arch regrowth. Find out what they are, below.
Castor Oil
According to Friese, applying castor oil can be a safe and affordable home remedy for sparse brows. “It has been used for years to treat a variety of conditions, including hair loss,” she explains. “While there haven’t been scientific studies that prove that castor oil can regrow hair, it’s a low-risk remedy that may help you get thicker/fuller eyebrows.”
Stimulating, Hydrating Natural Ingredients
“Products containing olive oil, vitamin E, coconut oil, biotin, peptides, and lipids can all help the eyebrow grow longer and thicker by stimulating the brow follicles, by creating a healthier environment for the brows to grow,” Green says. “These ingredients help the brows by moisturizing and nourishing the follicle which extends the life of the hair allowing it to stay in the anagen phase longer. As a result, hair grows longer with more volume.”
Aloe Vera
Believe it or not, the fan-favorite suncare ingredient is also fab for promoting brow growth. “Studies show that the aloe vera leaf also provides calcium and magnesium,” Green says. “Calcium is a vital mineral for the maintenance of the body; hence, it will benefit the overall health of the hair. Magnesium plays its part in promoting follicle hair growth as well.”
BosleyMD Follicle Energizer
This fan-favorite product is designed for scalp re-growth, but Friese says that applying it on thinning brows may help regrow brows, as well.
Latisse
“Latisse is the only FDA-approved product that is backed by research and contains the active ingredient, bimatoprost, that is clinically proven to stimulate growth,’ Green says. For optimal growth, Latisse is designed to be applied to arches once a day for 16 weeks.
The Takeaway
Eyebrow loss can result from many things, but with patience and the right ingredients in hand, regrowth is possible. If, however, you fall into the category of inactive follicles, there’s still an option to achieve stunning arches, including microblading and microshading.
