#trich_talk

[trichtalk]

Hi! I am so glad I have just found this blog! I have had trich for 20+ years (I’m 31). I mainly attack my eyebrows and sometimes my eyelashes. I nearly have no eyebrows left but I have had them semipermanent tattooed. Do you have any ideas that would help me to stop this long lasting habit? My doctor doesn't seem to recognise this as a real thing that is a problem! I've tried hypnotherapy but it had no effect. I'm getting so down about this now that I'm worried it will lead me back to depression

Hey lyagirl thanks for reaching out! I’m glad you’ve found this blog too! Over the years I have posted a lot of different ideas to combating Trich that might be able to help you out! Definitely scroll through my blog and take a look at some of the posts, you’ll definitely find some ideas there.

If you told me a little more about your pulling style I might be able to help you think of some things that can prevent you from doing it. As I told the previous Anon there is a model that is out now called the SCAMP Model that tries to pinpoint how and why people pull and gives them alternate things to do to deter and retrain themselves to refrain from pulling. The Model includes Sensory, Cognitive, Affective, Motoric and Place/Environment pulling styles. Maybe dig a little deeper into when and why you are pulling and maybe we can come up with a plan to help you stop this.

In reference to your doctor… Trichotillomania is a real thing which has been classified, and given an ICD-9-CM Diagnosis code (which I have copied below). You might want to remind him of this next time you see him/her! ICD-10: F63.3ICD-9-CM : 312.39OMIM : 613229DiseasesDB : 29681

On a side note, I have talked about my HeadCovers Unlimited Fake Eyebrows that I wear and this is the number one thing (aside from acrylic nails) that prevents me from pulling because they fully cover my eyebrows for extended periods of time. Here is a post that I did about the brows so you might be able to get a better idea of what I am talking about : HeadCovers Brows

I know how hard it can be not to get down on yourself, and not the let your pulling spiral you into a depression. Believe me, all of us Trichsters have felt that one and one time or another, just know that you are not alone if ever you ever need anyone to talk or vent to, I’m here!

Looking forward to talking with you more!

[trichtalk]

I think I might have trich? But it's weird where instead of pulling out my eyebrow hairs with my fingers, I twist the hairs constantly until they're bent and won't brush back, and then I use tweezers to pull the bent hairs out. I'll twist constantly (like when I'm bored or stressed or thinking) but I only go through with tweezers once a day. Does this constitute trich, and if so is this common? Is there any way to stop this?

Hey Anon! Thanks for reaching out! Although I am not a doctor and can’t officially diagnosis anything I would say that this still constitutes as Trichotillomania. That is actually how Trich kind of started for me. I started twisting my hairs and eventually the twisting led to pulling them out. Although you aren’t going straight to pull the hair out right off the bat, you are later singling out hairs that look or feel different and then pulling them out.  I would say that this is pretty common action along with rubbing them and just touching on and around the brows in general. When I went to the TLC conference two years ago I learned that there are several different pulling styles, five to be more exact, The SCAMP Model (Sensory, Cognitive, Affective, Motoric, and Place/Environmental). And we each pull for a different reason or multiple. It might be best to do a little research into what type of pulling style you have and what might be best to help prevent that. Once you determine what is making you pull it might be easier for me to offer some suggestions for you :)

Something that I thought of off of the top of my head is using brow wax to help reduce the twisting and pulling. The main purpose is brow wax is the prevent the eyebrows from moving, kind of like setting them in place for people who have “wonky untamed” brows so to speak.

I think if you were to use some of this wax, that you wouldn’t “like” the feeling of twisting the hairs, that now have wax on them, in between your fingers. The hairs will feel sticky and not the same as the way that they currently feel.

If you are interested in trying this you can look for brow wax or brow sculpting wax at any beauty store, Ulta, Sephora etc. and I know they do have a limited supply of these types of sets at like CVS and Walgreens, Maybelline has a brow Drama Plate that should be available at either one of those places.

Not sure if this will work for you but I just wanted to put it out there as something to try. Let me know how it works out!

[trichtalk]

Update & Task Force

Hey all! Sorry for my absence from the site! I’ve been finishing up my Masters degree in Charleston, SC, and started working with a Distillery here and have had NO life at all whatsoever.

That in combination with starting to work with the TLC Millennial Task Force has left this blog pretty neglected recently and I’m sorry for that. I will definitely pledge to dedicate more time to reconnecting with all of you and I can’t wait to start the conversation again. In the mean time, I would definitely also encourage all of you to check out the Task Force Advice Column, Called Trick-N-Picks 

We answer questions and provide information for people very similarly to how I do on this site so definitely check it out!  Can’t wait to get back on here and start talking about Trich and Derma again. Miss & Love Y’all! 

[trichtalk]

Hey, I randomly stumbled across your blog while searching for trich support groups in the area! Do you go to the one in NoVa? How do you like it?

Hey There silly-melisser! I’m glad you stumbled upon my blog! I personally have not been to any of the support groups in the area. The one that is closest to me is the NoVA Trich & Pick Support Group and they meet on the first Sunday of every month from 2-4 pm. That’s just a little bit of a busy time during the day for me, but I really would like to attend a meeting. There are also 2 groups that meet in Washington DC but like I said I just haven’t really had to time to attend one. Are you planning on attending? If so let me know and maybe I’ll go as well! or After words you could let me know what you thought about it. I’m not sure if you already have it but here is the Link to the information about the support groups in our area. Just look under Virginia & Washington DC and you should find the information that you need. Are there any other Trich Groups that you found besides these that are in the area?

[trichtalk]

LOVING the unfinished cover of Sandy Rosenblatt's book about Trichotillomania coming out next month. Doesn't it Hurt? Confessions of Compulsive Hair Pullers is an E-book that she has been putting together for some time now. It shares the "personal stories, struggles and tribulations of 15 people to help educate the world as well as eradicate the shame around trichotillomania and other BFRDs" The book includes stories from both females AND males from 5 different countries that range in age from 18-65. I think i'll be buying this book myself. Not only does the art work look awesome but I think it would be interesting to see the perspective of someone who has been dealing with Trich for 65 years, and how people in other countries react to the disorder. It's interesting to think that so many different kinds of people are affected by Trich. Should be an interesting read and I can't wait for it to come out!

[trichtalk]

Me again! :) Time for another update I thought... So since I've been back at school I've been counting all the days on a calendar that I've been pull free. I made it 1 day short of 3 weeks without pulling. I don't really know how. I didn't have as many urges and when I did I often did busy work such as cleaning/organizing/exercising until the urge passed. Saturday didn't go as well as the other days, I pulled maybe 10 lashes before I could stop. I was pull free for 4 days until tonight when it got bad again and I've now done about half of my upper lid. I kept saying to myself stop stop stop but I just couldn't resist the urge and the feeling I know I get when I pull. I haven't told any of my friends or family about my trich so it's just really hard when I have a setback like this and I just feel really alone and I just want to cry. Talking here helps and I'm going to go to the gym to try and work off the tears and the urges. Anyways, I'm sorry if this was kind of a bummer message, but typing all this has stopped me from pulling for like 5 minutes which is good :) Thanks for being a listening ear, I don't really have anyone else when I have bad days where I can't resist the urge. - phalangesdancingphalanges

Hey there phalangesdancingphalanges

Wow! That’s incredible! One day short of 3 weeks? You should be super proud of yourself. That's a really long time, and not everyone would have been able to resist the urges for as long as you did. It stinks that you had a setback but sometimes that happens. It really is the worst feeling. I’m recovering from one myself and it can be discouraging... But you went almost 3 weeks before and you can do it again. And yes you might have pulled 10 lashes, but that is still progress. Before you might not have been able to stop at 10, it might have been 20 or 30. So try to look at it from that perspective.

Have you thought about telling one of your family members or close friends about it? I find that telling those that are close to you really helps. At least it helped me a lot. You can talk to them about it, and even cry with them if you need to. My family, friends, and boyfriend have given me a lot of support when it comes to Trich so it couldn’t hurt to think about telling someone. That’s funny that you mentioned going to the gym because that actually helps me a lot. My arms are so sore from working out that it hurts to bring them up to my face lol it’s sounds dumb but it works! Feel free to write me anytime when you need a quick 5 minutes to stop yourself from pulling. I always love getting emails & asks! Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading your next update!

[trichtalk]

Hey Guys! Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season & New Years. I recently moved into a new house & have been totally slacking on my posting and I apologize about that so I’m hoping this video will make up for it. I know this isn’t exactly linked to Trichotillomania, however I think that it applies to how we feel sometimes. It’s about finding how YOU define yourself, and not letting how you look effect and take over your life. It’s about finding the positives in your disorder. Do you define yourself by your hair? By your friends? Family? Background? Life goals? Accomplishments? That’s for you to decide. Lizzie Velasquez is a PERFECT example of someone that has not let her disorder control her life. She has a disorder that doesn’t allow her to gain weight and has never weighed more than 64 pounds. Despite having this disorder she has become a firm believer in taking the negativity/teasing/bullying in your life, and making yourself a better person because of it. Yes she may look different but that didn’t stop her from achieving her dreams and it shouldn’t stop you from achieving yours.

What defines you? You decide.

[trichtalk]

Sorry it took me a few days to answer you back, I've been in exams :) I’m glad that I’m not alone in breaking down while talking about all of this to my psychiatrist. He just asked a lot of questions that for me are really hard because I’m a very private person and most things he asked about I haven’t even told my closest friends so talking about it was just really hard. In terms of techniques we talked about he mentioned that there are basically 2 main paths I could try to take or a combination of the two. Both involve first recognizing when I feel the need to pull and the feelings or sensations around that and saying to myself “I feel the need to pull right now”. So the first method is then to actively will myself to not pull without any sort of replacement stimulation type thing. Along those lines put myself in situations where I’m less likely to pull. So for instance I tend not to pull in public and I know I tend to pull the most when I’m studying or reading or whatever in my room alone, so he suggested going to the library or just around other people. I pretty much immediately decided that wasn't for me as I've tried before and I just can’t will myself not to do it right now, my hands always find their way up to my face. The next option, which I’m currently trying, is to find some sort of alternate stimulus that might give me a similar feeling to touching my eyelashes. So because I told him I’m more likely to pull hairs when they feel coarse he suggested using yarn, or strings and things like that. He suggested I go and just sort of touch things and decide what material feels closest to the feeling I look for with my eyelashes and play with that in my hands. With that he also mentioned that I could use really whatever felt helped me most to not pull. He also suggested that I let myself touch my eyebrows/lashes and don’t pull them. I however want to just make my hands avoid my face like that completely because just touching those hairs usually leads to me pulling. He also suggested (since I don’t actually pull the hair from my scalp) that I try brushing my hair when I feel the need to pull or just touch my hair, which I might try. So far the string is working fairly well its just that it doesn’t give me any sort of release that pulling does. So it keeps my hands away from my face and helps a bit but I start to feel a bit tense when I don’t get that release pulling. The theory is that if you deny your brain that sort of release that comes from the urge and act and pulling then eventually your brain will experience less and less urges to pull altogether. For the moment it’s just really hard because pulling feels good to do and then really shitty afterwards when I have no lashes or big patches missing from my eyebrows. But I’m trying and I think that that’s better than doing nothing for me at least. Sorry that was so long but this is the last one! :) - phalangesdancingphalanges

Hey there! No problem I know everyone can be super busy this time of year and exams are definitely a good excuse for the delayed response lol Hope you did well! No you certainly aren’t alone when it comes to getting emotional when talking about stuff to your psychiatrist or therapist. That’s one of the things that I liked about going to see someone though. Yes at first it was very uncomfortable to talk about, but those issues needed to be brought to the surfaced and discussed for me to get better. Those two paths sound pretty similar to the ones that were suggested to me when I started going to behavioral therapy. It is important to recognize when it is that you have the urge to pull, but you’re right, the hard part is fighting that urge. Have you thought about carrying around an adgenda or planner and writing down every time you pull? That was suggested to me to make me realize where/when I am actually pulling the most.  As far as finding something that is coarse and feels like your eyelashes. Have you thought about buying some cheap fake eyelashes from cvs/Walgreens/target? I haven’t been doing it lately but sometimes I used to carry them in a little baggy with me. I would feel the fake lashes in my hand when I felt the urge to pull and just pull those out off of the fake lash if I needed to. Clearly nothing is going to give you that same release feeling as pulling but it’s something to consider trying if you wanted to. Yeah I wouldn’t really suggest touching your brows and lashes because the more you touch them the more there is a chance that you will find one that you want to pull out. That’s really awesome that you are trying to improve and I’m hoping that the string keeps working for you or that you can find something else that might work better. Not sure if this would be easier but you can always email me at [email protected] if writing in the ask box isn’t enough room. Keep me updated love!