3.5k eyebrow transplant for East Lancashire woman (From Lancashire Telegraph)

3.5k eyebrow transplant for East Lancashire woman

12:03pm Thursday 6th September 2012 in News

AN East Lancashire woman said she had ‘no regrets’ about paying £3,500 for an eyebrow transplant, and said: “Some people said I was vain, but I worked hard to save up for it.”

Claire Culverwell, 30, who grew up in Briercliffe, Burnley, and works as a dental professional in Whalley and Rawtenstall, was left with just a few hairs on her brows after plucking over 14 years with tweezers.

Eventually, after causing permanent damage, she decided to save up for the six-hour operation by pioneering hair transplant surgeon Asim Shahmalak, at the Crown Clinic in Manchester.

She said: “It was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I had a consultation and found out how much it would be.

“I saved up for quite a while. It was my hard-earned money.”

Dr Shahmalak removed a narrow strip of hair from the back of Claire’s head. The strip, around an inch long, contained 400 to 500 hairs, and each was painstakingly separated out under a microscope.

The individual hairs, still attached to their roots, were transplanted into small holes made in Claire’s eyebrows using a fine needle, and under local anaesthetic.

Claire said she was thrilled with the results. “I would say to anyone, go for it. He gave me the best advice and you are in great hands.

“I didn’t understand the harm I was doing to my eyebrows in my teens, and I was horrified when I finally learnt the truth in my 20s.

“It badly affected my confidence. I didn’t like people seeing me without make-up.”

Claire is now studying a BDS dental surgery degree at the University of Liverpool, and plans to go on to study an MA in oral surgery in London.

At weekends, she carries out teeth whitening at the Timeless Therapy House clinic, in Whalley, and also works at Denpoint Dental Care, in Bacup Road, Rawtenstall. Her dream is to open a dental surgery in Majorca.