hi there! ive been suffering from trich for almost a decade and i was just wondering any tips you might have to beat it? ive fully regrown my eyelashes twice now but it never seems to stick and before i know it im pulling them all out again. its seriously impacting my mental health and im struggling to cope, especially with the quarantine and stuff
Hello! As always, professional therapy is my first suggestion, but I know especially now it isn’t an option for everyone. That being said, I do have some helpful at home trich tips for coping:
Especially with the quarantine, get into a routine and keep yourself busy. I know it’s hard, especially if you’re like me and rely on a lot of external structure, but having a routine and sticking to it can cut out those “boredom + stress = pull session time!” moments.
If you have the energy and resources, I highly reccomend learning and getting involved with needlework. Knitting a “stress swatch” when I got the urge to pull helped me a) track where and when I was getting the urge and b) kept both hands busy so I couldn’t pull.
Keep away from mirrors! Most of the time I pull or pick is spent in the bathroom, so if that’s a similar problem for you, set an alarm on your phone to keep your time in front of a mirror minimal.
If you own tweezers and use them to pull, I would reccomend throwing them out or otherwise making them unavailable to yourself. It can be tempting to break them out mid recovery, but it can easily result in a relapse.
If you use your fingers to pull, make note of which fingers you use. The #1 strategy I use is to create “bandage thimbles” on the fingers I use to pull. Avoid the bandaids with plastic wings - the goal is to minimize grip!
Other strategies involving your pulling fingers once you get a little more control - wear nail polish! The bright colors or patterns coming toward my face help me recognize when I’m pulling and need to break out the knitting.
You mentioned your eyelashes. If you can, wear mascara or eyeliner. Not the expensive stuff, I mean the crumbly stuff. When you reach to pull, it’ll leave some makeup on your fingers - it can help you recognize when you’re pulling and need to find something else to occupy your hands.
Be kind to yourself. Relapses happen. Sometimes you’ll be fine for months and then have a bad pull session, sometimes you’ll go years with pulling everyday but not enough for anyone but you to notice. Recovery is hard under normal circumstances, let alone during an international pandemic. You can do this!
These are some of the strategies I’ve used to help with my remission, and as such they might not work for you, but it can’t hurt to try! Unfortunately, for many trich isn’t something you can ‘beat.’ You learn about it, your own habits and patterns, and work to minimize the symptoms. Trich is a daunting, frightening, and sometimes embarrassing condition to talk about, let alone confront. I am so proud of you for fighting to recover and choosing to do so every day! Let me know if you have any more questions or need to chat about your trich 🧡
