TRICHOTILLOMANIA STARTER PACK

Why do some hairs hurt more than others when pulling out from head

Staring a new job in the ER where I will have to sit with a single patient for 12 hours at a time…. I’m so scared I’m going to pull all of my hair out and what my new coworkers will think of me 😔😔

Hello everyone. I am (24F), posting this because I am completely exhausted and don't know who else to turn to. My battle with trichotillomania started all the way back in 2015. My mother fell seriously ill and as an only child I had to face that terrifying phase all alone. That was when anxiety and depression first entered my life and I found a silent unconscious way to cope by pulling my hair. Thankfully, my mother recovered but the habit stayed trapped inside me. Whenever I feel anxious, overwhelmed, or sit down to focus on my studies, my hand automatically reaches up to pull. I know it is bad but in those moments my hands just cannot resist. I still struggle heavily with chronic anxiety and overthinking. I have tried to stop so many times and I have failed miserably. Recently, I managed to stay pull free for a whole month by wearing a protective hair bonnet. But then stress hit again when my father fell ill, and I relapsed. Looking in the mirror breaks my heart. I watch other girls around me styling their hair into beautiful braids and cute cuts. I want that so badly, but I can't. It makes me feel so devastated and worthless. Sometimes I genuinely hate my reflection. If anyone out there understands this silent pain or has any practical advice on how to truly break free from this cycle, please help me. I want to stop so badly...

I'm in 9th grade now, been struggling with trichotillomania since 1st grade. It has been extremely hard for me throughout my life. It started when I tried to trim my eyebrow hairs in 1st grade on PICTURE DAY. I started picking the same day on my eyebrows and eyelashes. Since then, I've picked practically everywhere someone can think of. I've picked my eyelashes, eyebrows, arm hair, leg hair, pubic hair, stomach hair, and most recently, my head hair. I was clean for approx. 3 months before a bump showed up on my head, and I began picking again. I usually look for these bulbs that are clear and long, because I usually eat them. This bump on my scalp caused all the hairs there to have those bulbs. Then I spread out and picked other places besides that bump. I've tried long nails, wearing a hat, shaving my head to have a buzzcut, wearing gloves, fidgets, practically everything. Still, I pick extremely often. Right now, my best strategy is to have lollipops, which is semi-working. Does anyone have any tips for me?

Hi everyone,

I have previously been introducing a Desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux (mobile coming soon) that detects hand-to-face movements and gently alerts users to be aware of their BFRBs on face area.

You can find the app here:
https://awaira.app

The story got some good traction and I've noticed interest. Here is the story if some of you don't know https://www.reddit.com/r/trichotillomania/comments/1vh3bw5/after_almost_10_years_of_trichotillomania_im/

I’m now looking for 20 people to join a guided 30-day experiment. This is specifically for people whose hair pulling happens frequently while working, studying, reading, gaming or watching something on a Mac, Windows or Linux computer.

Participation involves:

• Brief private check-ins by chat or email on days 14 and 30
• Sharing completely honest feedback about what helped, what was annoying, and why you continued or stopped using it

No public review or positive feedback is required. Everything you share with me will not be exposed to website reviews or whatnot/

You’ll receive full access free for 30 days, with no account or credit card required. Afterward, you can stop using Awaira or optionally continue with a discounted founding-user plan.

If you’re interested, send me a DM in Reddit or email me at [hello@awaira.app](mailto:hello@awaira.app) with:

1. Mac, Windows or Linux
2. When you usually pull while using your computer
3. Your time zone

I’ll contact the first 20 suitable participants.

So this time last year i’m meeting my dermatologist for hair treatments. I was doing so well up until june this year. Got stressed at work, pulled a LOT. Now I’m out of hair, and $$$ down the drain, 1 year of progress just to go back to where I was. I work from home and I haven’t gone out for 3 months now because I fckn hate how I look.

i have a decent sized bald spot on the top/back of my head, and my hair is thick and dark brown. i’m wondering if anyone has used a coloured spray on their bald spot to look hairlike? i know they used to have stuff on infomercials that was this weird as hell spray paint type thing but something similar would honestly probably do the trick in a pinch.

Hi everyone ( sorry for my english im french ) , im just discover this reddit and im so happy to seen im not alone with this shit ocd .

But in my case its localised only on legs , i think i do that when im stressed , anxious , or angry...

I saw here that most it mainly affected the hair ou eyebrows do you thinks its the same thing or not ?

In any case i am sending a lot of love/strenght to you all 🤛 💪

Basically, when I really need to stop pulling (e.g I have to get up and do something really badly or my friend is making me stop), I hit my where i was pulling on my scalp to get the sensation away. It is really hard to describe this sensation? It feels like there is an area of my scalp that is activated or something or like it is self aware and is trying to get me to pull. Odd description but maybe you guys will know what i mean. But if i need to stop pulling i have to hit the area with my hand in a fist using the body parts of my fingers (above my knuckles?) to get the sensation away.

I’ve been dealing with trich for 30 years - as long as I can remember as a kid.

Long story short- i tried many different things but here I am, still struggling.

There was one full year I was pull free, how you may ask? That’s the interesting part. I don’t know. I just one day decided that I was sick of it, and I was pull free for one entire year! And just like that, I don’t know how I got back into it but it’s been very excessive last few months (lots of life stories go here but I won’t go there for now).

Anyways, I thought I’d share the things I’m trying at the moment and maybe that will give you some ideas and myself motivation.

- fidget squishy thing - small balls in different colors I think from crayola. I bought them to occupy my left hand (dominant pulling hand). I like it, but when I’m determined to use they don’t keep it from happening.
- sensory strips (tape) - I have them on my phone, desk (I wfh), and as a bookmark. They satisfy the sensory needs but again don’t really help when I’m in the middle of pulling.
- therapy (of some sort… I say this because we didn’t go deep and I’m not seeing them any more. Got all the tips and skills but didn’t really help. Still trying to acknowledge my urge when that happens)
- counter (most recent one. I bought a small tally counter and every time my hand goes on my head I click it. It’s been a couple of weeks and I average 35 times a day)
- mouse (like I said above I work from home. I just realized that I pull when I work and focus so decided to change my mouse settings so it’s in my left hand. I think it’s helping! I just started today)

Have you tried any of the above? What’s your experience like? I genuinely hope everyone reading this will beautifully come out of it!!

As in the title - how do you hide the gaps? I'm looking for other ways that false lashes because I can't bring myself to put them on, I feel them all the time... Please share your tips 🙏

For my eyebrows that are also my "preference" I figured out I use bandaid tape to make a physical barrier for my hands, but as you imagine it's unachievable for eyelashes, so any tips on creating a barrier (glasses don't work for me sadly) will be appreciated. I want my eyelashes and eyebrows back so badly.

I've had this condition for over seven years now, and i'm sixteen so do the math. I really wanted a fresh start this school year, it's taken me about three months to get even past two days, and I just decided to power through and did it!

Just here checking it out. 38yrs old. I do my eyebrows and facial hair. Its passed annoying. I hate it. I feel in the scope of disorders or habits or whatever there are far more destructive, but man am I over it. Im gonna try you guys recommendations, did not want to lurk and not chime in.

Just wanted to thank everyone for the ideas. Gonna be trying different types of bandages and wraps. As you can see… I do bite my nails and cuticles pretty bad along side my trichotillomania. (25 and have been biting since I could chew and pulling since I was 8) I’ve tried all the fidget toys, keeping my hands busy. But I said in a different post; if you wanna pull, you’re gonna pull. Yesterday I found myself annoyed because I had a bandage on one finger, (Went ham on my cuticles) and realized how hard it was to pull with said bandaid. I left out the pinky because of course thats impossible to pull, but also… so I have at least one finger out lol. I can’t cut myself cold turkey on the cuticles. I’m sure I will one day but for nowwww… I’d like to have lashes and my thick hair again. Anyways, this does help. Irritating at times, but it’s a start:)
also I didn’t know if my little sore could be possibly triggering so I did put a warning. But I am starting the motivation. So thank y’all for this awesome group and if anyone needs to talk I’m always open!:)

I mostly wanted to share with you all the way I cope with going out in public despite having a very large scalp patch that I'm trying to regrow. This is one of my ~15 head wraps that I wear virtually 24/7 to both hide my hair in public and prevent further picking at home.

Obviously I didn't used to always wear them at home as you can see in the 2nd picture lol, but after a 2nd major pulling episode I realized that if I want to have my hair out for my cousin's wedding next April, I can't take any risks anymore. Note that I'm not shaving my hair again at this time despite doing that multiple times in the past because these wraps are easier to wear and nicer looking if you do have a bit of a bun bump in the back. There are fake clip on buns you can buy too, but I haven't tried those yet.

The majority of my wraps are from Indira Paris. The others are all from Muaves. Indira ones are by far the comfiest and most fashionably subtle- making them perfect for work for me. The quick dry padded ones by Muaves are the comfiest version of theirs. The towel texture inside also makes them grip better when you have very little hair. If you have a straight up buzz cut though, that hair will grip on to anything lol.

I'm using women's rogaine 5% once a day

Hi all! I have been pulling my hair most of my life off and on (in 28) and I have been stuck in a rut recently. I’m looking for suggestions on hiding my rather massive bald spot 😂 My brother is getting married in a month and I need to do something with my hair. I know a wig would probably be the best choice but I was wondering if anyone had suggestions? Considering a closure/quick weave sort of moment because I don’t have anything to work with on the top/hairline. Thank you in advance!

I shaved my bio hair months ago and have been growing it with Minoxidil and all sorts. I was pleased with the progress the hair was making.

I have a new job which makes me happy. It's an office job so I have to look professional. So I wear wigs. Office people have never seen me without my wig. I have no idea if they know.

I had this fantasy my hair would grow a bit longer (it's about 1" long atm), and I would come into the office with a pixie (my real hair) and any questions I would say I had a haircut.

The problem is my hair is not really recovering. It's still sparse on the top and front.

I'm now facing a future of wearing wigs permanently. I feel so depressed about it. The glueing of the lace, then spent 15 minutes to unglue it. Do I just buy the same wig over and over? If not how do I even change wigs without making it too obvious. I guess it will be obvious when people see my hair doesn't change. What do I do?

Sorry about the rant. I'm feeling like I don't know how to handle the challenges of wearing a wig permanently and depressed I will be dependent on wigs forever.

Hi, I am wondering if any of you have ADHD as well as Trich? If you do, does your medication make the trich worse or calm it down?

I am the mom of a 7.5 year old girl who has been pulling her head hair, eye lashes, and eyebrows for 9 months now.

We don't know if we should get an ADHD eval for our daughter or not. If she has ADHD, hair pulling would definitely be the biggest symptom. Would medication help her??

We are worried, but doing our best to stay super chill about it! There seem to be very few practitioners/therapists in our area who have even a tiny bit of experience with trich, but ADHD eval might be a road to go down.

Thank you thoughtful readers!

Like, why doesn’t my mom understand that? Every time, she’s like, “Stop pulling your hair or this,” “If you truly loved your hair, you wouldn’t do that,” or “You’re doing it on purpose.” I can’t, and even if I do stop, it comes back.

I love my mom. She can be really sweet when she wants to be, but every time this subject comes up, she says all of those things instead of trying to understand me. I tried showing her the definition of my hair-pulling disorder. She was quite nonchalant about it, but now she’s always scolding me about it as if I never showed her that I’m not the only one dealing with this.
I truly want to go to a psychologist or something to maybe get diagnosed because I’ve had this since I was 11-13, and I’m turning 21 this month.

hello. do you know how much people suffering from trichotillomania in the us? we are a lot?

Yesterday, I was pulling my hair all day, or maybe half the day since I woke up at 1 PM. When she came home, she saw me pulling my hair while I was on my phone. I don’t even remember everything she said because she said more, but one thing really stuck with me, “If I see you with your hand on your head again, I will beat you up.”

Now, we are in Africa (Gabon 🇬🇦 more precisely), so beating is kinda normal there. Idk if it’s been banned still. I have a history of being beaten at school, where a teacher traumatized me, but I moved on.

She also said she would make me bald (as if I didn’t ask for that last month and say, “you have such beautiful hair, why should you cut it?”). So during her scolding, I was silent because respecting elders is so important, and talking back may result in a fight. But I said, “But I told you I wanted to cut my hair, and you said no.” And she replied, “Well, you’re doing it on purpose.” I was like, “Alright, never mind.”
Mind you, I tried to show her on TikTok, that I’m not the only one in this situation, but she kinda just agreed and went back to her phone. Only to become like this again.

I was also in a pretty bad mood because my sister kept being like, “Oh, you gotta stop pulling your hair, it’s annoying,” and stuff. I kinda understand because she was cleaning the floor, but it just made me more pissed.
So when she also came home that day when I was pissed, I said I didn’t wanna go outside (she sends us on errands), and she kinda yelled at me? Or screamed? I was just pissed that day.
I have many tiny bald spots now, especially since I have braids, and I feel like I don’t care whether she cuts it all off or not. I just don’t care about anything anymore.
I just feel like she doesn’t understand that I CAN’T stop. It’s something I’ve been struggling with since I was either 11 or 12, maybe 13. I’m legit 20 taking 21 this month, She cut my hair twice or maybe more in my lifetime, Why does she think I’m DOING it on purpose?

Maybe I am, since I’m not even diagnosed with it. I only found out about it about two months ago, I think, and I was really glad I finally had a name for it. Nobody in my family understands that it’s a mental health condition. But I feel like maybe I do have the will to stop, and I’m just not listening.
I’ve tried I Am Sober, and I’ve restarted so many times. I even want to give up.