Eyelash Transplant Craze?

Eyelash transplant surgery is set to become the new must-have procedure for women - and the occasional 'metrosexual' man.  The craze will become real and eyelash transplant surgeons want their craft to become the new must-have procedure.

I've heard it all now.

"Longer, thicker lashes are a ubiquitous sign of beauty. Eyelash transplantation does for the eyes what breast augmentation does for the figure," said Dr. Alan Bauman, a leading proponent of eyelash transplants.

And it costs as much.  The cost - three grand per eye. 

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"This is a brand new procedure for the general public (and) it is going to explode," said Bauman, who practices in Florida, doing about three or four a month. 

Reuters reports that under the procedure, a small incision is made at the back of the scalp to remove 30 or 40 hair follicles, which are carefully sewn one by one on to the patient's eyelids.

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Only light sedation and local anesthetics are used.

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

More than 10 million cosmetic procedures -- from tummy tucks to botox -- were performed in the United States in 2005, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The figure represents a 38 percent increase over the year 2000.

Ah- vanity.

--Jo Anne Way writes from Seattle