Comments on: Coming to terms with trichotillomania

By: Anne B

Anne B — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:47:12 +0000

Hey – I have been a hair puller for 25 years and I have learned to accept and live with the condition (yes I mean that) after everything failed. I do seek out possible treatments, but until then, its big wigs and hide behind alopecia as the official “out” of my medical condition – that is, unless you are a friend or family member.

My sibling has Tourette Syndrome and you might want to contact TSA about any genetic studies they might be doing.

Good luck -
AB

By: Sjukdomsutbildning « Pormaskprinsessan

Sjukdomsutbildning « Pormaskprinsessan — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:00:33 +0000

[...] en annan bloggare som skriver om hudpillande (dermatillomani) och hårplockande (trichotillomani), som är besläktade [...]

By: Penny

Penny — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:34:02 +0000

What a great post. I think acceptance is also one of the most important things. At age 21 I have come a long way to accepting it, but still don’t feel comfortable talking to people. But being honest online and connecting with other trichsters through blogs and forums is such a great thing.

By: Beth Rose

Beth Rose — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:46:02 +0000

Thank you for sharing your experience.
I began at 10 yrs…at 51, I have begun to open up about my pulling.

By: Christina

Christina — Sun, 31 May 2009 21:20:04 +0000

My daughter (age 10) has been pulling her eyelashes out since she was 6. She also bites her nails down to the quick and beyond. She usually has one big episode per year (where she pulls the lashes completely out) and each year it has lasted longer than the one before. She is currently in a phase of pulling and not letting them grow back in. This episode has lasted the longest: about 2 months. We would really like to help her. She says she seems to “zone out” when she pulls. I related to your story about being alone. I’ve never seen her pull.

My question relating to this post has to do with awareness. She used to “know” when she felt she needed to pull. But this time around she seems to be in shock that she has even pulled at all. We don’t get on her case about it. But in the past, checking in with her periodically throughout the day helped her to be aware. She has not reached the age yet where others opinions of her matter much. (We homeschool so she doesn’t have the peer comments like she would if she was “in school”.) I don’t want her to feel self-conscious about it. But I also would really like to help her stop. She has beautiful long eyelashes when she lets them grow out.

Last year during her pulling stage she said her eyelids were burning and stinging and she “had” to pull. So this year it’s different in that she doesn’t have any sensation of doing it. Do you have any advice on what I could do to help her be aware?

Her older brother has tourette’s syndrome. We are waiting to see what her little sister will develop! The good news is they can all relate to each other and show compassion to each other. For the most part everyone just ignores the ticks and pulling episodes.

We have tried the squishy balls with little strings that you can pull and squish. She has cut out dairy entirely and almost all sugar (we use agave nectar and sucanat instead). We followed the advice of John from the TTM newsletter and tried ocusoft and sterilid. I don’t know if they helped much. We try to be very careful about soap and shampoo etc.

Thanks for posting and letting me talk a bit. I would love to hear any advice you or others have.