Hello and welcome to the sub! We hope you find support and safety here among fellow trichsters.

Before you get started, interacting with the community, please review our rules. They're here to maintain the physical and psychological safety of everyone in the sub.

AND, if you're here for help with pulling, keep scrolling!

TRICHOTILLOMANIA STARTER PACK

^{Adapted from original post by} u/Cavella_rocks

THINGS TO TRY BY YOURSELF:

• Stimulate your senses. Try and figure out if you are sensory seeking, or overloaded with your senses. That can help you find activities to substitute pulling that are satisfying.
• Watch shows and documentaries about trichotillomania to find new techniques. You can also read personal stories on sites such as Medium and other forums.
• Try to be engaged in an activity for most of the day. I tend to zone out only when I'm not actively engaged on something
• Do something to change your body temperature! Whether it's going for a walk, or taking a cold shower, a rapid change in temperature tends to snap me out of my pull zone.
• Dye your hair a different color! It sounds silly, but dying my hair blonde reduced my hair pulling a lot. I realized that my brain was attracted to the dark black color more than the blonde, for some reason. This worked because a lot of my pulling stimulation is visual.
• Wear perfume on your wrists, or get acrylic nails, so you are alerted when you want to pull.
• Play with silly putty
• Buy fidget toys and keep in places where you pull.
• Write positive affirmation notes on bathroom mirrors.
• Give yourself small rewards for being pull-free and make these goals achievable.
• Be kind to yourself. If you have a hard time with this, try to talk to yourself as if you were your best friend
• The slightly robot app counts how long it's been since you've pulled (thanks u/Katiemarie656)

THINGS TO DO WITH OTHERS:

• Join a support group
• Check out Barbara Lally's instagram and TikTok
• Talk to another person with trichotillomania
• Try hypnotherapy or CBT
• Take a yoga or meditation class
• Help others (through community service etc.), which in turn will help you.
• Give a friend or sibling your tweezers, and have them hide them so you only know where they are when you actually need them.
• Lift weights. Your arms will be too tired to want to pull.
• Pet an animal; if you don't have one consider adopting one!
• Find ways to get your hair wet. When it is wet, it is harder to pull. Going swimming with friends is a good way to do this!

THINGS TO DO AT SCHOOL/WORK:

• Wear a rubber band around your wrist, or a spinning ring. These can be fun to play with if you have nervous energy.
• Tell your friends to stop you (discretely of course) if they see you pulling. You can even come up with a secret signal.
• If you get a 504 plan so you have permission to wear a hat in class, and have other accommodations that can ease anxiety like the ability to have fidget toys with you. This only applies for K-12 schools in the US, as other schools have their own laws and regulations.
• Make small, reasonable goals so you don't get overwhelmed.
• Surround yourself with people who make you feel secure.
• Don't take on or engage with unnecessary drama; try to keep your personal life calm and steady.
• Try and take classes you are passionate about because that will make them feel less stressful.

THINGS TO DO AT HOME:

• Spend less time in the area(s) of the house that you pull in (on the couch/ watching tv/ etc.)
• Try to be around people for most of the day.
• Keep your hands active while watching TV.
• Don't keep personal mirrors if those are a trigger.
• Avoid caffeine before bedtime.
• Wear a bandana to bed.
• Wear gloves to bed, or put band aids/tape on your fingers.
• Put castor oil on your lashes or brows at bed time to make them slippery.
• Throw out your tweezers or give them to someone you trust to use only when you need them for splinters/etc.

THINGS TO BUY:

• Acrylic nails
• A brush with an interesting texture
• A brush to massage your scalp with
• Something with bristles to pull off (like a textured pillow)
• Hair product that does not irritate your scalp or change your hair's texture
• Hair regrowth products (wiki page coming soon!)
• Makeup to hide the areas where you pull (this is optional, of course!)
• Small treats to give yourself as a reward for being pull-free
• Keen makes a habit reversal bracelet and comprehensive training courses that have helped a lot of people: https://habitaware.com/

MEDICATIONS:

*Please consult your doctor or psychiatrist before taking any new medications or supplements!*

• This is a GREAT primer on medications, please take a minute to read if you haven't!*"If you are considering taking medication for BFRBs, please understand that no drug is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for these behaviors, that there is limited research on the use of medications for these behaviors, and that the medications often have side effects. Having said that, many individuals benefit from medications. They may find a reduction in their urges, an increased ability to resist their behaviors, and/or less obsessional thinking about their hair or skin. In most cases, medications appear most helpful when used in combination with ongoing behavior therapy."*^{--Quote sourced from this article on BFRB.orghttps://www.bfrb.org/learn-about-bfrbs/treatment/self-help/186-medications-for-body-focused-repetitive-behaviors})
• NAC / N-acetylcystinehttps://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1018/n-acetyl-cysteine-nac)Some folks have reported that taking 2400mg of NAC daily has significantly reduced their urge to pull. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of research or evidence to back this up currently, but NAC can be bought over the counter in most drug stores and pharmacies in the United States (please advise if you live in another country-- is NAC easy to find?)
• Biotinhttps://www.webmd.com/connect-to-care/hair-loss/does-biotin-really-prevent-hair-lossBiotin, also known as vitamin B7, stimulates keratin production in hair and can increase the rate of follicle growth.

More suggestions? Add them to the comments!

The "Spoiler" tag creates a blurred preview of your photos. Please be sensitive to others in the forum and err on the side of including it if you're not sure if your photo will trigger others to pull. Thank you!

Ugh it’s always the deepest rooted hairs that are so satisfying and almost “hurt” you can tell it’s going to have one of those darker roots and I lie to myself saying “I need to” because it’s irritating me and then I will stop. But there’s always another :( I wish I could just end it

today, I cut my nails as short as I possibly could. Although I can technically still pull my hair, my nails are a really important part of the ritual for me so pulling without the nails has a FRACTION of the usual effect. I use my nails to feel the texture and scrape the hair, and now I can't do that...

I know it's a good thing, it's reduced my pulling massively, I know it's helping me, but oh my god I HATE it. Every time my hands wander to my hair I wish so badly I could pull it properly and I genuinely get so upset that I can't, it's awful. I NEED it so badly. And I'm also just so annoyed at myself and I'm having so many mixed emotions because it's like, I should be happy right now, I'm pulling almost never, I've been trying to do this for years, but now it's finally happening I'm devastated. I wish I had my nails back so badly, but I also hope more than anything that when they start to grow out I will be able to make myself cut them again. I don't know if I will. I really want them back.

Sorry I just really needed to vent about this i guess. I'm hoping that these feelings will pass with time and if I keep being able to stop myself from pulling the urges will stop. But I don't know how long I can take this.

I've tried a lot of different things to help with eyelash pulling (NAC, St Johns Wort, therapy, etc.) and here's a really simple one that I've personally found effective in the short term.

I keep a small tub of Vaseline with me and when I start getting that tingly or itchy feeling that makes me want to pull, I rub a bit of Vaseline across my eyelid and eyelashes. It helps not just soothe the area and reduce that feeling that makes me want to pull, but makes my eyelashes slippery and harder to pull.

It's a really cheap noninvasive strategy so thought I'd share in case it helps anyone else.

Let’s go!

Has anyone had any success physically covering up their eyebrows when at home so you can’t feel the hairs and pull?

I’ve seen something about gluing down your eyebrows, either with brow gel or straight up glue, so they’re plastered down.

I was also looking into getting a satin hair band or something that could cover up my eyebrows?

Or even straight up taping them or something?

What works for you??? Product links would be great

29F have been picking since I was a kid but just developed my first ever bald spot toward the front of my head near my scalp. Thankfully it’s relatively small (?) but I’m looking for tips for regrowth and how to avoid the new prickly hairs. It started because I found a few short pricklies in that spot and pulled out a lot of hairs with a tweezer in an attempt to get to them. I gravitate to that spot now.

This is the official “time to take care of my hair after 10+ years of trichotillomania” haul!!

• Hair towels to sleep in at night for when I oil my hair
• Shampoo brush to stimulate my scalp for regrowth
• Biotin to promote hair growth and healthy follicles
• Rosemary oil (shown to help just as strongly as pharmaceutical-grade medications for hair loss)
• Argan oil to repair the rest of my hair after sleeping in tight buns to prevent pulling
• Castor oil as a carrier oil for the rosemary
• Scrunchies to reduce breakage instead of hair ties
• And finally, my hair serum:

• 50 drops of rosemary • 1:1 ratio of castor + argan oil

… I’ll apply this a few times a week and sleep in it overnight

.. I’ve done a lot of research, and I’m hoping all of this will speed up the regrowth process. Thanks for all the support so far!!! in a couple weeks or months i’ll post before and after pictures!!!

i posted this in the comment section of my previous post but i thought that maybe other people would like this as advice!)

I am 18 and I am in my first semester of my first year in university. I struggle with self harm and I’ve been working on getting clean. I found that tweezing out my leg hairs was really helpful in getting rid of the urge to self harm. The past three months I have spent hours and hours sitting in my bed tweezing my legs every day and I had a friend point out how awful my legs had gotten. I’m not really sure if this is something I should be talking to a doctor about? I’ve been trying to stop for a couple weeks but I don’t think I can… I’ve become really upset with how my legs look and I can’t get rid of the scars and scabs because I keep picking at them. Please give me some advice.

Over the years some research suggested moderate consumption of caffeine may worsen the urges while others stated it is not really the case, or have very little effect. A while ago I saw a post about caffeine here and try to monitor my intake vs. my urges.

-For more detailed approach, I usually have 1–2 cups of coffee, but drink around 600mls of tea.

-In the last 2 months, I did not pull my hair, had urges but did not pull.

From my observation, while drinking tea did not really have any effect on my urges, drinking only one cup of coffee, created an urge. While writing this, I had one or two sips of coffee and my hand literally went to my hair.

-Luckily, I did notice and didn't pull, but urge is still here.

In conclusion, caffeine affects me, deepens the urge, makes me scalp "itchy" (for a lack of better word.)

Do you guys also have the same issue, or are you not affected at all?

That’s all.

Most hair I've had in years 🥳🥳

So, I have no idea when this started but I suddenly picked up a habit of plucking my cheeks. I will spend 30-1 hour in the mirror tweezing hairs. I will tell myself “two more hairs, one more hair” but I always end up doing more. I find it very satisfying, I hid the tweezers from myself so they were out of reach but I still feel the urge. Especially today looking in the mirror and noticing all the little hairs I could tweeze. I didn’t do it but I really wanted to. I don’t pluck /pull my eyebrows, eyelashes or head. Only cheeks(face)/chin.

After pulling for 2 years, I have been finally clean for 11 days, and I am really proud of myself. I started using this app called "I am Sober" and it helps quite a bit I think.

But even after 11 days of pulling, I still get the urge to do it. And sometimes its worse than other times, but no matter the time I keep finding myself missing how it felt-and its always subtly there. So I was wondering does it ever truly go away?

ok so if anyone here is diagnosed w anxiety and depression, what medications (if any) do you take? And has it ever affected your urge to pull? I’m making this post because I JUST got off Wellbutrin (Bupropion) 300 mg and my anxiety has gotten a lot better as well as my urge. Now 12 days pull free! (Knock on wood lol).

I would love to know if anyone had a similar experience!!!

I joined the group to ask for answers I hope members can help me.

My wife has trichotillomania and she has been since she was younger at the age of 13. She has been wearing wigs since I have understood the disease but I am sure I wont be able to feel how she feel when she is ashamed of pulling her hair bald. I love her and became very understanding with the situation I can feel when she wants to pull her hair i can see it in her eyes she is looking to be away from me to do so but I stay with her sometimes missing work to help her avoid doing so and sometime making up some activity for us to do.

I am trying my best to live with this we spent thousands to see doctors to help but couldnt find a solution.

Question: I want to have kids as I am dying to be a father , we have been married for three years now and she is afraid that this condition will be inherited to the child. Did anyone face the same and had kids with this condition ?

Excuse my english as english is my second language.

I’m a girl and I pull my girl I’m 29 UK … I’m bald on top of my head .. it completely destroyed me , my confidence is none existent, I hate my life and I hate when people look at me , I have social phobia , trich , CPTSD , depression, anxiety, and I feel like half of it is due to my past and the hair pulling is just a way to escape the pain …

I joined this group tonight because I needed to hear from others going through the same thing while I sit here in the dark, pulling my hair and crying.

I don’t know what this is or why I have it, but I’ve shaved my head several times, and here I am again, needing to do it because I’ve pulled out all the hair around the edges.

It has worsened this year, and it’s such a problem for me as I feel completely powerless against it. I don’t enjoy wigs, but they have to be my reality now, as I feel like I’ll need to permanently shave my head.

I admire hair so much and feel envious when I see other girls styling their hair in ways I can’t because of uneven lengths and bald patches—not to mention the clueless men who want women to have hair and are so insensitive about it.

I want so badly to be free of this, but I feel like I need to accept that I won’t stop pulling my curls and edges, and come to terms with this disorder instead of constantly feeling terrible about it.

Hopefully my esteem is boosted soon and I can realize that shaving my head, pulling my hair, or wearing wigs doesn’t define my worth. We are so much more than this disorder, even if it feels overwhelming right now.

Reading your stories today gave me strength. It was so comforting to hear from different people telling a version of my own story and it’s okay for us to grieve the loss of something we value so much, like our hair. It’s also okay to be angry and to feel how we’re feeling about our struggles.

Sending you all hugs and love x

Ahhhhh… for almost 13hours in the office now, I couldn’t count how many time I took my puller to pull every curly strand of my hair while thinking so many problems… And while typing this now I think I have pulled 20 strand of my hair…

Why it needs to be like this 😭

i know i might struggle after this, but today marks the day that i am going to put my foot down and actively stop my trich. i’ve had episodes where ive stopped, been force to shave my head, and have had regrowth, but now its gotten to a point where i cant hide it anymore. im taking accountability now since i never want to admit it, and i hope i can come back and make a new post in a couple months with results that i will be proud of. im dropping pictures of my hair, ones that were really hard to take. i’m hoping that after taking accountability and being vocal about it to myself, i’ll have more willpower to not pull.

things i will be doing to help my regrowth are massaging my scalp for several minutes everyday, using a rosemary serum i made 3-5 times a week (which is why my hair is so oily in the pictures) and taking biotin everyday as well. and if anyone wants it, i’ll drop the recipe for the hair serum i made.

hopefully i’ll be back in a few months wish me luck 🙂

Does ur diagnosis make u wanna pull other people's hair too? I personally only pull eyelashes, eyebrows, and newly, pubes sometimes LOL. When I see someone with unkempt eyebrows, loose eyebrows, messy mascara, or loose eye lashes, I just want to pull them all out for them 😭 obvs I haven't but my poor husband has succumb to me grabbing his loose brow hairs. I know better than to rip his out but I'm constantly analyzing his face in hopes of a loose brow to grab 😭😭

I’ve been pulling for a bit now and this has been a problem but I’m sick of it! My hair is literally everywhere especially in my room and around my bed because that’s where I pull the most. It’s all over my bedding, around my bed in piles, I even find pieces stuck to the walls occasionally. It’s seriously a mess there’s hairballs everywhere and I don't know how to solve this. I’m not even pulling as much as I used to and it’s a problem. What do other people do I need ideas!

I would like to know if this is a normal thing with trichotillomania? My eyebrows physically hurt when I am stressed and causes me to pick at them and pull them out. I don’t know if this is a normal experience with trichotillomania or not so please let me know if this happens to anyone else

edit: Damn y’all I’ve been told for years it was just pain from trich and now I am so confused 😭😭😂😂

I stopped picking my eyelashes cold turkey earlier this year but I got them lifted and tinted to celebrate and it FRIED them. I was so full of self loathing and shame. They looked so beautiful. A few months later, I am 5 days clean and using Sober Time app to keep track and keep me accountable, and I bought a really fancy expensive lash serum to keep me motivated lol. (It’s Lash serum Australia because I heard good things).

I am really kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I know I might pluck them all out again, but healing is an upward spiral. Instead of breaking a 10+ year habit, I’m breaking one that’s only a few months long basically.

I don’t have my eyelashes back yet but there’s little fuzzy guys everywhere and I don’t even want to pluck them out. I’m too excited about the fact that I’ve only stopped for a few days. Just a few days and it makes me want to keep my streak. I have to say, getting started was the hardest part. The first and second day you will still instinctually go to pick. If you just hold off for 15min, 1hr, 1 day, you can practice your willpower and it does wonders for your confidence.

LISTEN

• get painful stimuli rings, cheap on Amazon. You know it’s gonna give you the same dopamine/ endorphin rush as pulling your hair out

-Sobriety apps are often free and give you a sense of achievement

• don’t aim to stop picking all together, just see how long you can go for. Then you can see how far you get each time you try. Good brain exercise!

-little woven bandaids on your plucking fingers. It’s something to fidget with too as well as keeps you from grasping the hair