Woman has an eyebrow transplant after over plucking hair

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Page last updated at 15:23 GMT, Tuesday, 4 September 2012 16:23 UK

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By Del Crookes
Newsbeat reporter

Claire Culverwell's eyebrows before and after her transplant

A woman who plucked her eyebrows too much when she was younger has spent £3,500 having a hair transplant.

Claire Culverwell, 30, says she used tweezers so much that she was left with just a few hairs above her eyes.

The trainee dentist, from Whalley in Lancashire, said: "For more than 15 years I plucked my eyebrows weekly in order to get a super slim appearance to my 'brows, not knowing that eventually the hair would not grow back.

"By the time I realised what I was doing, it was too late.

"I became quite embarrassed about what I'd done to myself and I knew as I grew up that drawing my eyebrows on with a pencil just did not look natural.

"Whilst on stage singing or with patients in a clinic I was constantly aware of how this looked and eventually I took it upon myself to look for a solution."

'Not for vanity'

Claire's treatment involved a six-hour operation in which a strip of hair from the back of her head was removed and grafted on to her face.

I know that it sounds really superficial to some people but it really did make a difference to my life. It's not for vanity, it's not for attention, it's for happiness and I would do it all over again

Claire Culverwell

The hair most closely matching the colour and size of her original eyebrows was used and transplanted using a needle.

Claire says now everything has healed, she's happy with the results, despite having to trim her eyebrows every couple of weeks.

"After a relatively short procedure to move hair from my scalp to my 'brows I almost have back what I had before I started plucking," she said.

"I can finally stand on stage or in a surgery confident and happy.

"I know that it sounds really superficial to some people but it really did make a difference to my life.

"It's not for vanity, it's not for attention, it's for happiness and I would do it all over again."