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BlueMajorelle
January 2nd, 2014, 11:02 PM
I struggled with trichotillomania as a teenager (the chronic urge to pluck out hair). Few noticed because I'd always pull from under the back of my hair but it would cause bald patches, and sometimes I'd pull at my eyebrows. I haven't done it in three years but I still get the impulse to pull my hair. It's very frustrating. Has anyone else struggled with this?

Hatsune Miku
January 2nd, 2014, 11:27 PM
For about a year now, I have struggled with trichotillomania. Although I don't pull my head hair, I pull my eyelashes. My New Years resolution has been to stop, and so far I'm doing pretty good. It's kind of nice to have a known name for this phenomenon, because it gives you closure that you are not alone. I'm the only one of my friends who does this, but there are plenty of people, many even from this site, that share the same problem. Congrats on being pull-free for three years :)

Rio040113
January 3rd, 2014, 02:03 AM
It's something I did mildly growing up that gradually got a little worse for a few years as I got older, then suddenly got a lot worse not too long ago. I never realised it was an actual problem for me until about 2 years ago when I had some trauma in my personal life and pulled a full 1/3 of my hair out over the space of roughly 18 months, mostly in the crown area and at my front hairline.

I've been pull free (99% anyway) for about 5 months now and I've had a pretty good amount of regrowth already, especially at my crown. It's not a simple thing to stop, for a month or 2 I started biting the ends off my hair, strand by strand. I decided to work on that straight away, before it ended up like the Trich. The front of my hair is still very thin but I am slowly seeing baby hairs start to creep in there. It's hard to be patient but I know realistically it'll be 2 years, maybe more, before my hair is back to what it was before (or is at least as good as it's going to get! - I do worry some of it will never grow back, sigh). I'm looking forwards to all these baby hairs traveling down my length though and my ends thickening up :) If only I had a time machine :lol:

Congratulations on your 3 years pull free! :flower:

diddiedaisy
January 3rd, 2014, 05:47 AM
Hi, I too started pulling out as a teenager until I got a bald patch on my crown. I then started picking and snapping of the ends instead. My favourite thing to do was make a knit, snap it off then play with it in my fingers. If I lost my knot (I would put it somewhere safe if I had to do something) I would make another. At its longest the back of my hair was bsl but only apl at the front due to picking it. I would sometimes put it in a ponytail to stop myself, but I would just pick the ends of that instead. I'm now 43 and stopped a couple of years ago. The urge is there everyday though, especially if I'm stressed. Very occasionally I will still make and pick off a knot, but it's when I'm really past stressed out and my brain needs an outlet!!!

It is very hard to overcome and if you've been doing it for years, I don't think the urge ever goes away. It's a bit like an addiction isn't it.

Angelica
January 8th, 2014, 11:01 AM
I have this condition as well. The only thing I wish I hadn't done is pluck my eyebrows to oblivion. They will never grow back properly now. I did my eyelashes as well, but stopped before I caused permanent damage. Never hair head. I just do body hair now.

Rio040113
January 8th, 2014, 12:40 PM
I have this condition as well. The only thing I wish I hadn't done is pluck my eyebrows to oblivion. They will never grow back properly now. I did my eyelashes as well, but stopped before I caused permanent damage. Never hair head. I just do body hair now.

I used to do it to my eyebrows, they ended up about 3 hairs thick (:lol:) with half of one almost completely gone, they grew back a fair amount over the last couple of years since I stopped pulling at them but the one that was the worst was noticeably shorter and patchy still. I started rubbing a drop of oil into it at night (when I oil my hair before bed) and it's growing back in!! Could be worth a try :)

eileanoir
January 8th, 2014, 12:57 PM
I have also struggled with this. When I was younger, I used to pull my hair. Then I quit doing that and started CHEWING on it! I was a chronic nailbiter for many years too. I have found that stress is the main trigger for me. If I can realize what's happening I can usually find another coping mechanism and stop myself. I still occasionally pull my eyebrows though. And when I pull my head hair, I don't actually pull it out, I just tug on it. I don't know why but it feels good. The body- mind connection is so weird sometimes!

stew
January 9th, 2014, 07:43 PM
yes, i have this. i manage to quit in intervals, but the longest i've gone so far without pulling is about 7 months in the last 8 years. i was doing alright last year while i was travelling by myself, but then some stressful/unsafe situations came up and i lost about half my hair in a week. it is currently the worst it has been in 3 years. my new year's resolution this year (and the last 8 years) is to stop. i'm quite determined this time, and i think i have the right head on my shoulders to, at the very least, go for long enough that my hair looks like hair again.

i spent a lot of time last year conquering my fears and learning to place less importance on things like appearance, which has really helped. not caring what my hair looks like makes me less likely to touch it. i'm working on trying to forget that i have hair at all for the most part.. and just letting it grow uninhibited :)

Joyce_Alison
January 14th, 2014, 02:51 PM
Yes, I have this issue as well.
I have always had an anxious/high energy temperament. I bite my nails.. it's only in the past few years that I've started pulling my hair. Most of the time, I just pull strands out of my bun/ponytail (which is not going to help growing my hair long!). Sometimes I pull the hair right out from the root. Sress tends to be a trigger... but also I have noticed I get this weird, achy, itchy feeling right around my ear/temple area (that's where I pull).
I have really messed now. I pulled a lot out.. more than ever before. Right now there is a bare patch about 1.5" by 1.5" just above my right ear... bare patch on the other side too, but not as large... The weird thing is that I keep touching the bare skin. It feels so soft & it gives me the urge to pull out more.
I think trichotillomania is related to perfectionism... at least it is for me. Also as a coping mechanism for stress. I found it very soothing when I was a child & my mother would brush & play with my hair... so I guess when I'm feeling anxious.. I want that same feeling.. but I escalate it?

Anje
January 14th, 2014, 03:31 PM
Been there since about 4th grade, still struggle with it when I'm stressed out. Luckily for my head hair, it's always my eyebrows and eyelashes that get targeted. So far, they've grown back pretty well, but I really need to find a way to deal with my stress that doesn't require me to pencil over empty spots in my brows every few months.

Morgane
January 14th, 2014, 05:00 PM
I've struggled with trichotillomania for years now, but only ever with my eyelashes. Luckily now I don't pull enough that it's noticeable, and I'm lucky that I have thick eyelashes that always seem to grow back, but I do really worry about eventually causing permanent damage. It's just so difficult to stop. :/

Larki
March 24th, 2014, 02:30 PM
I developed trich in seventh grade, when I was 11 or so. I would just mindlessly pull my hair out while sitting at the computer, and after a while my part was an inch wide. :o My parents obviously noticed and freaked out. It was stress and boredom related, our cat had nearly died that year and I always had a free hand - I'm a very handsy person, I always have to keep my hands busy. It's a lot less severe now, thankfully, I only feel compelled to seek and pull the short, weirdly-textured hairs that feel almost crimped - they're really zigzaggy, coarse. My hair is still super frizzy from new growth and hairs being of all different lengths. I have some hair that isn't long enough to fit into a ponytail or a bun, and a little section of hair behind my ear about 3-4 inches long that sticks out weird if I put my hair up, from pulling behind/above my ear last year during a period of stress.

GrowingOut
March 24th, 2014, 02:34 PM
I think I may have minor Trich with my eyebrows, which I'm trying to mend before they're damaged. (I always pull and pluck at 'em.)

Laurenji
March 24th, 2014, 02:57 PM
When I was about 10-11, I pulled all of my eyelashes out. ALL OF THEM. My mom said I looked like a cancer patient. I stopped pulling out my eyelashes because my eyelids would sting too much when I cried or when I was in direct sunlight. However, I did go on to start pulling out my eyebrows instead.

When I told my DH that I pull out my eyebrow hairs when I'm stressed, and that during finals week in college my eyebrows would always be half-gone, he was like, "Oh, that's why they looked weird! I couldn't ever figure out why your eyebrows looked so weird sometimes." lol.

I'm trying to stop, as I'd rather not only have half-eyebrows left for the rest of my life. It's really hard, though.

Jonquil
March 24th, 2014, 04:08 PM
I'm pretty sure I have this. Some months ago I found a weird, short kinky hair right at the top of my head and I pulled it out because I wanted to see what it looked like... after that I went on a rampage examining the rest of my head for more similar hairs and found a few, so I pulled those out too. I have very fine, slightly wavy hair so any odd ones like that made me feel like something was wrong, I guess. Next I started feeling my hair strand by strand from the root down, just looking for those kinky hairs. And I'm still doing that and I find some every day but I'm trying to fight the urge to pull them out. Luckily I haven't pulled out enough for there to be any noticeable bald patches. It definitely seems to get worse when I'm under a lot of stress or when I'm bored.

untangleme
March 24th, 2014, 07:00 PM
I have dealt with Trichotillomania on and off since I was 13 (24 now). It got to the point where I had large bald patches on the sides and top of my head. I worked with the psychiatrist I had at the time, and he put me on some medication that helped a lot. At this point, I pull only in times of very high stress, but it is very VERY mild compared to how it was before. When I was younger, I couldn't stop. Now, I am able to stop myself.

Stormynights
March 24th, 2014, 08:13 PM
I did a lady's hair that started doing that. I changed all of her hair products and really stressed out myself before her daughter told me she was pulling it out. I think she did better when I quit trying to fix her problem.

Larki
March 24th, 2014, 08:42 PM
I did a lady's hair that started doing that. I changed all of her hair products and really stressed out myself before her daughter told me she was pulling it out. I think she did better when I quit trying to fix her problem.
She was probably too embarrassed to tell you. It's really humiliating, you don't want anyone to know.

Stormynights
March 24th, 2014, 08:50 PM
I am sure that is why she never told me, but I am really glad her daughter did. I guess it is similar to nail biting. I did that when I was younger.

maybeinthemtns
March 24th, 2014, 11:01 PM
I do not have this, but my mom had it bad. She had huge bald spots all over her head and was very embarrassed by them. She had treatment for it - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I think it was called? It's not therapy like "tell me about your mother/how do you feel" kind of thing, it was specifically to help her learn to stop her certain behavior - hair pulling. She still does it a little bit, when she is very stressed, but even then it is mild and she is able to stop, and for the most part she never does it anymore. Huge improvement over before, when she was nearly bald because she pulled it all (and she has thickthickthick curly hair). It helped her soooo much. Like I said, I don't have it, but it's something to look into as far as I know.

snowyx
March 25th, 2014, 11:40 AM
I started in 6th grade. I pulled out all my eyelashes, and parts of my eyebrows. I was teased for having 'invisible eyelashes'. I was going through a really tough time in middle school but I finally managed to stop. Ive been pull free for around 3-4 years now.

YamaMaya
March 25th, 2014, 12:24 PM
I have struggled with this for a long long time, since I was a child, but not on my head, just on my eyebrows and eyelashes. Problem is I pull when I'm stressed or bored, and leave big ugly bald patches in my eyebrows and have really thin and short eyelashes. :( If anyone has some tips on how to prevent pulling at an office job (where stress and boredom had a baby) I'd really appreciate the advice :)

Larki
March 25th, 2014, 12:54 PM
YamaMaya, have you tried fidget toys or stress balls? Or Aaron's crazy putty? They would help keep your hands busy.

Arashi
March 25th, 2014, 02:01 PM
I don't have trichotillomania but I do have a problem with compulsive scalp picking the last several months that I know has been the cause of much higher amounts of shedding than normal. :( Worried I'm going to thin my hair out doing this...

mindwiped
March 26th, 2014, 11:23 PM
I was a hair chewer as a small child. Mom panicked and took me into the hairdresser. Gave the hairdresser the instructions to cut all the damage, and make it to where she can't put ANY of her hair in her mouth. Then she dressed me in blue for Kindergarten pictures. I look like a boy, but it broke the pattern before things got too bad.

LauraLongLocks
March 26th, 2014, 11:43 PM
I used to pull my eyelashes out, and sometimes my eyebrows, but back then I didn't know there was actually a name for this. I didn't do it enough to thin them so that anyone else could tell. My 10 yr old daughter has struggled with trich since she was a baby. It started out when she was breastfeeding. Her hand would just need something to do, and instead of letting her twiddle my other breast, I directed her hand to her ear. She played with her ear, but soon discovered that she had hair she could twist and pull. Unfortunately, due to my stress level at the time, I lost all my milk and she was weaned early, at 11 months old, so she sucked her fingers and twiddled and pulled all her hair out of the side of her head as a comfort thing. She would twist items into her hair, like pencils, and combs and velcro. We had to cut her hair so many times. At one point, out of desperation, I shaved her hair (I think she was 4 years old or so). My thought was if she had nothing to twist and pull, she would break the habit and not go back to it by the time her hair grew out again. Nope, instead she started to twist and pull my hair if she was sitting in my lap, or if I gave her a hug. My hair was in serious danger! I tried giving her silky, stringy things to play with, and that worked for a few minutes, but she would be back to twisting and pulling her hair. Here she was age 3... with a lot of hair missing from her head.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/Bestbirth/My%20family/SylviaJune2007002.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/Bestbirth/media/My%20family/SylviaJune2007002.jpg.html)

Now she's 10 years old and has decided she wants to grow her hair to her knees. She still struggles with twisting but doesn't pull it out and doesn't twist items into her hair that need to be cut out, so she's making amazing progress. Here's her most recent length shot.


http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/Bestbirth/Sylviashair001.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/Bestbirth/media/Sylviashair001.jpg.html)

And here's a side pic, with her first teeny sock bun. She barely has enough hair to hold the bun form, but she loved it. The side you are seeing is the side that she generally pulled and twisted, so this is amazing progress.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/Bestbirth/001-2.jpg (http://s21.photobucket.com/user/Bestbirth/media/001-2.jpg.html)

She has to make a conscious effort not to twist and pull. If she is bored, tired, or if something hurts her feelings and she needs comfort, she goes right for her hair, and interestingly, she is the ONLY child I have (remember, I have 11 children) that has continued to suck her fingers/thumb past toddlerhood. She's 10 and still sucking her fingers. I think this has to do with being weaned so early.

lapushka
March 27th, 2014, 08:49 AM
She's made amazing progress, LLL! Maybe she can grow her hair out just like mommy. :D

Angelica
March 27th, 2014, 09:05 AM
I have struggled with this for a long long time, since I was a child, but not on my head, just on my eyebrows and eyelashes. Problem is I pull when I'm stressed or bored, and leave big ugly bald patches in my eyebrows and have really thin and short eyelashes. :( If anyone has some tips on how to prevent pulling at an office job (where stress and boredom had a baby) I'd really appreciate the advice :)

Make sure your nails are short, you won't be able to grasp the eyebrows and eyelashes. For bed time, I used Vaseline on both eyebrows and eyelashes (if Vaseline gets in your eyes, your vision gets blurry, so be careful). I found Vaseline solved my eyebrow and eyelashes, sadly though I now have almost bald eyebrows because of the condition; so bear this in mind also that eventually the damage will be permanent.

Laurenji
March 27th, 2014, 08:18 PM
Based on some research into the old Castor Oil thread, I'm rubbing castor oil into my eyebrows every night in the hopes that my bald patches will grow back. Who knows . . . Like Angelica said, they may just be gone forever.

CremeTron
April 1st, 2014, 03:14 PM
What helps me with doing automatic actions with my hands when stressed is knitting but you can't always have your knitting with you. Maybe some of you could take up knitting or crochet though?

CremeTron
April 1st, 2014, 03:17 PM
(where stress and boredom had a baby)

hahhahahahahah!

Larki
April 1st, 2014, 05:17 PM
Yes but on my upper lip lol so it is sort of helpful but when I can't fight the urge in public, looks so gross!- to coin an American term. People cannot see any hair but it is obvious I am picking at myself and that is the unsavoury part.

What helps me with doing automatic actions with my hands when stressed is knitting but you can't always have your knitting with you. Maybe some of you could take up knitting or crochet though?
I really want to take up knitting! I know how to loom knit but I want to learn how to do it with the needles. I tried a couple years ago and gave up after a few days, it wasn't working for me. Going to see if I can learn this summer when I go back home. Yeah, I think it would help tremendously with keeping my hands busy.

CremeTron
April 1st, 2014, 06:01 PM
Good luck!

Ellethwyn
April 24th, 2014, 12:40 PM
I pulled my hair out a lot when I was 10-12 years old. I had bald patches on the top of my head. After reading about the hair growth cycle I am now terrified I may have bald spots when I am old in the same areas I pulled out hair when I was young.


Each follicle can grow many hairs over a lifetime: on average, each grows a new hair around twenty times. Plucking a hair from a follicle brings forward the next period of hair growth in that follicle. Over the years, the number of follicles capable of growing hair declines naturally. The decline is especially noticeable on the top of the head. http://www.pgbeautygroomingscience.com/the-hair-growth-cycle.php

:sad

Ellethwyn
April 24th, 2014, 12:47 PM
I developed trich in seventh grade, when I was 11 or so. I would just mindlessly pull my hair out while sitting at the computer, and after a while my part was an inch wide. :o My parents obviously noticed and freaked out. It was stress and boredom related, our cat had nearly died that year and I always had a free hand - I'm a very handsy person, I always have to keep my hands busy. It's a lot less severe now, thankfully, I only feel compelled to seek and pull the short, weirdly-textured hairs that feel almost crimped - they're really zigzaggy, coarse. My hair is still super frizzy from new growth and hairs being of all different lengths. I have some hair that isn't long enough to fit into a ponytail or a bun, and a little section of hair behind my ear about 3-4 inches long that sticks out weird if I put my hair up, from pulling behind/above my ear last year during a period of stress.


I only feel compelled to pull the short, weirdly textured coarse/crimped hairs too! I am trying really hard to not pull those anymore. I catch myself searching my hair for those when I am stressed.

Rosa Harris
April 24th, 2014, 01:00 PM
i've deied it - even here - tell people its a 'skin problem'. I both pull and pick. I've got thin hair with bald patches. You can see it in some of my pics like here. and along the side part in my profile pic if you look close tho I usually photoshop my pics for bald spots. I have lots lengths from just coming in to tailboneish.. lots of hairs about a foot long from last year when I went crazy when y ex moved in with me and my husband.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2837/13554318343_77439a04e6_o.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/mDKqBR)beforeandafter (https://flic.kr/p/mDKqBR) by rosarl13 (https://www.flickr.com/people/121893704@N04/), on Flickr

Rosa Harris
April 24th, 2014, 01:04 PM
Above- you can sorta see the photoshopped spot in the second picture.

I've also never been able to tel my Dr. My mom is the only one that knows I am causing the problem and she constantly gets on my case about it. I tell her 'it itches' or 'i have a skin condition' but as an old hairdresser she always cals me on my bull and ask me what I am nervous about. I hate those discussions.

DragonLady
April 24th, 2014, 01:17 PM
I have this condition, too. :( It started when I was six or seven, and continues to be a problem now. My head...tingles...or itches...or something...so that plucking the hair out feels good. Tugging or pulling just one hair in that area will set me off to doing it for hours everyday 'til I have a bald spot bigger than the palm of my hand. :(

It's just one area, but I'll continue pulling 'til I've got a much larger bald spot even though plucking the extra hairs isn't as satisfying. Since I've been wearing my hair up every single day it's less of a problem, but I still do it if I'm reading or watching television. My family knows to tell me to stop if they see me doing it, and then I usually rearrange my hair to make that are less accessible.

Rosa Harris
April 24th, 2014, 01:27 PM
Dragon lady: i get that 'itch' and I have tried like crazy to find something to stop it. I have very dry scalp. I feel like if I could stop the itch I would not pick and pull like this. Nothing has worked, tho.

One point I got this weird idea that I had patches of long hair coiled under my scalp. I know crazy. It was at the back so I could not see what I was doing.The mental idea was that after chemo the hair got stuck under the scalp. I knew it was not true yet at the same time I swore i could feel loops of hair poking out that needed to be pulled lose so they would hang down. Total delusion - I now - but very compelling.

Larki
April 24th, 2014, 03:14 PM
I only feel compelled to pull the short, weirdly textured coarse/crimped hairs too! I am trying really hard to not pull those anymore. I catch myself searching my hair for those when I am stressed.

It looks we have more than hair color in common. I've been trying to coach myself not to pull them, just to run my fingers along them to feel the texture, and sometimes that works, but some of the hairs the roots are so loosely attached (and the root bulbs are so small) that I pull them out without even trying. :(

dwell_in_safety
April 24th, 2014, 03:42 PM
I've had trich with the hair on my head since I was 9. I now cover my hair every day that I'm off work (at work I am never idle, always on my feet) and, combined with wearing a sleep cap to bed, it stops me completely.