I'm not a hair geek but I do know about the condition.

My husband suffers from it. It tends to be at it's worst when he is stressed. It ususally results in bald patches on his eyebrows and side of his hair.

Having said that he has told me recently that he has got it under control and I haven't noticed him pulling for a while. I think he decided enough was enough and is using will power and positive thinking.

Would love to hear how you beat it though?

Hi,well I glad you have enlightened us as I do think this needs to be adressed and be included within the haidressing framework,
(Habia please take note!)

for hairdressers to offer any help for thrichcollamania clients I agree that they have to be enlightened and educated about it .
Most of us know about alopecia and I suppose for some with thrichollamania it would be far easier for people to say they had alopecia so that they can have a coulour and cut ect.......

I think it would be a great educational advantage if hairdressers wanted to specialise in this area then they could choose to take it as optional units,
but I still think that basic hairdressing edcuation about this condition should be covered far better and in depth ,

most of us know there are all different types of thinning ,
and if there is no infection or anything then the only clue as to what causes the thinning lies with the client revealing the source

I woud say it cannot be distuinguished from alpoecia,
as I have seen both conditions myself first hand like Calla has,

My friends trichollamania was due simply to nerves , I asked her why she did it and she told me "she feels along the hair shaft then the temptaion comes to pull , after she pulled she then looked at and sucked the hair root bulb ,
she pulled her hair out from the crown at the back , so it was visible to everyone exept herself ,
but everyone thought it was alopecia except for her close friends and family

here is a link I was looking at a while back and Ithought it looked great I would have loved to specialise in this sort of thing it really is a pity that
they dont have anywhere to learn all of this in a college ,
I did wig making and postiche work but that was it!... now days I dont think they even offer wig making any more which is such a shame

have you heard of Lucinda Ellery she deals with all sorts of thinning and thrichollamania
I do hope this link works

Trichotillomania - Hair Pulling Facts, Symptoms and Solutions

Thanks very much everyone again

I don't know if I have beaten it...but lets just say I am in control of my trichotillomania rather than it being in control of me!!!!

Although I know as hair people you cannot know everything and obviously you cannot play psychologists/psychotherapists etc....

I just think if more hairdressers had knowledge of tricho like Minky says....then it would go some way to helping those of us who have it...( well scalp pullers anyway ).

I looked for many ways to be beat tricho....hypnotherapy, drugs, counselling etc...
but ultimately I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it...all I wanted to do was break the cycle and control the impulses....

One thing everyone with tricho probably has is low self esteem....lets face it, it is an extremely embarrassing problem. We are doing it to ourselves...why can't we just not do it????

I had no hair so I was wearing hats and scarves etc. Ok in winter...not so great in Summer.
I had hit rock bottom and all I wanted was hair. I would deal with the problem later....I wanted HAIR!!!

So after great searching I found two places that looked like they could help me.
I won't name them....ask me should you want to know but one has been mentioned
One of the places was very flash and very expensive and had some bad reviews ( I found out later ). I contacted them and they sounded nice...but couldn't give me an appointment until I had at least two inches of hair.
Bearing in mind I had a sparse covering of about a quarter inch if that.
They said grow it and get back to them DUH!!!! If I could do that would I need them in the first place?

Second place....had a basic but very informative website.
Lots cheaper...I mean a lot! and I had a lovely email relationship with the owner of the salon. Showed her pictures....and provided I could keep the hair I had she could see me as soon as I could get flights to the UK.

I opted for the second option.
I had wefts of human hair 'stuck' to my hair/scalp.
For the top I had a plate? of hair that formed the fringe and top part of hair with a natural looking parting that showed the 'scalp' of the plate...( can't think of the proper name).
I have photo's but I had long, very thick, wavy natural looking hair and I had my self esteem back.

I could reach my scalp....but I didn't.
I felt good, I looked good and I didn't want to waste the £400 it had cost me.
I did fiddle with the 'wefts' and pulled out some of the hair ( the ones that felt different ), but because it wasn't coming from my scalp I got no feeling from it....therefore no satisfaction.
It did drive me bonkers for about 2 weeks...the itching drove me crazy...but it looked good so I put up with it.
After a couple of weeks a few rows of wefts came out ( I'd had extra put in to compensate for any loss of wefts ) and this felt better and lighter.
I'd been given a pot of weft adhesive to re-stick any loose ones.
This lasted for 7 weeks before I decided to remove the wefts. Ok it should have been done back in the UK at the salon....but I did it myself.
It was easy to do as they were pretty loose and I did it under a very hot shower. I perhaps lost a few of my own hairs but nothing noticeable...

What a relief!!!!!!
I had hair. It was like a close crop of very, very dark hair but there were no patches and it was thick.
I was so happy....to be free from the 'wig' and with hair.

From that day I haven't pulled one single hair...in fact I am obsessed with not pulling it if that makes sense.
It is now thick and full and about 3 inches long.

I was told due to me not having tricho for long I wouldn't have done any damage.

Minky~ I agree with everything you have said....
and there is a niche in the market to deal with this....
there are many reasons for hair loss....but I think I can say that trichotillomania is the most embarrassing reason as we do it to ourselves.
Most people who knew what I had thought I was crazy....even called a freak
Plus for me personally I found it worse because I looked like I'd had chemotherapy...and yet I was perfectly well...
The amount of people who would ask my hubby if I was okay....

So thats a little bit of my story....
but it was a special hairdresser who helped me...someone who realised there was a need to help people with trichotillomania...and who understood the need to help them get a little bit of their self esteem back...

Thanks Minky for the link..xxx

i actually work for a company similar to LE called HAIR SOLVES, so i deal with trichotillomania clients all the time. Although its a fascinating condition, its no different that someone who bites there nails when you study the behaviour patterns. Hairdressers can only give you a temporary solution to trichotillomaina, to disguise and to treat the superficial elements. The honest truth, trichotilomania victims need to learn more about their behaviour patterns from a psychologist.

Hiya,

I know what it is as I did trichology at college years back, I would also assume it could be covered in a specialised treatments class.

Well done in curing yourself you deserve a pat on the back and als ofor now being able to talk about it.

I once met a lady with the condition which I cut her hair rather short and she grew it all back i als ogave her shamppo and other stuff to use and was a success.

As for colouring only if the scalp wasnt broken and id probably only suggest maybe a semi or quasi.

From someone who bites their nails aswell.....believe me trichotillomania is very different.

Admittedly nail biting does have the same behavioral pattern....and it is linked to people who also have tricho....
but as someone who has bitten their nails for about 27 years....it has never left me feeling so lacking in self esteem...it has never made me want to take my own life....
Trichotillomania did!!!!!

I'm not sure a psychologist would have helped either!!!
Behaviour therapy might have helped.....but having read a lot about it and visited lots of forums...it doesn't seem to work in a lot of cases.
The onus is on trying to change your behaviour patterns....
when you feel the urge to pull squeeze a ball....brush your teeth....take a walk....etc

I still think a lot of the time tricho sufferers lack self esteem ( not confidence, I am confident ) and by getting our self esteem back it goes a long way in helping us deal with the condition.

Plus it also helps if more people were aware of the condition....and I still think training hairdressers to spot the signs of tricho or even just know about it if someone said they had trichotillomania.. would go a long way to helping those of us with it.....not to 'cure' us....but just to understand and be aware of it.

Funny, it was on BBC breakfast this morning, I'm sure there will be more info. on their website now.
I only heard it is more of a physical, rather than mental condition, but was getting ready for work so did not hear it all properly....

Looked this up:

I saw that too. The research has shown it may be caused by a lack of a certain amino acid.

That was it, I did hear that but was not paying enough attention....

BBC NEWS | Health | Pill for hair-pulling compulsion

Here's a link to this morning's story.

Thanks for that link....interesting to see a new development.

Personally I really didn't want to go down the 'pill/medication' route as it seemed from researching this that it was always trial and error.
Medication for depression was the top choice but I would never have taken them...as I knew I wasn't depressed. I thought I was...but I wasn't

But if one pill helps and isn't addictive then I hope it works. It sounds interesting anyway and I would have been really interested to have took part in the trials myself.

Genetics does play a part I reckon....I have one son and one daughter who show signs of related compulsions.

I wish I could do something more to help others for this condition and other conditions related to it (I've had/got them all!!!! ).
I have had it to the extreme.....and while it is great that there are doctors/scientists etc looking into it....I think sometimes it takes someone to have really 'been there' to help others...or at least someone with knowledge and compassion towards those who suffer.

The hardest step is admitting you have 'it'.
Once you have done that you would probably go to a doctor who will more than likely be due to it being a relatively unknown condition.
So what do you do? Go home and keep quiet.

For fear of repeating myself....it took two hairdressers to 'treat' me....one who already knew about it due to having a friend with tricho and she had done her hair for years....another who specialised in giving tricho sufferers their self esteem back by giving them beautiful hair.
But ultimately it was two people who made me feel 'normal' and not ashamed.

Not therapy, not doctors or medication....just help at the most basic level.
The rest had to come from within....and if you dig deep enough you can overcome it.