Hair pulling is a serious condition that affects literally millions of women around the world, and even some men. So off the top, you're not alone. This article is geared toward helping people who suffer from hair pulling. The medical term for compulsive hair pulling is Trichotillomania.
What is hair pulling?
Ever hear the expression. "I was so upset that I was pulling my hair out."
It's not a joke, people really do pull their hair out, and the repercussions can be devastating.
These people pull their hair to point of creating bald spots, usually in one area behind the ear, than they tend to pull on the opposite side, and it's continuous, until they aren't even aware they are doing it. It becomes an unconscious act, the hand rising to the scalp, and one by one the hairs are pulled out. Some even do it in their sleep. What they may not be aware of, is that this condition won't fix itself, and if they keep stressing those hair follicles, the hair will quit and stop growing back.
If this is happening to you, or someone you know, there are a few easy things you can do to test for one probable cause, and there's even a quick remedy to get rid of the problem of hair pulling. There seems to be any number of reasons why someone would pull their hair, but this lady I'm going to tell you about, had a severe case of hair pulling that lasted for years, that eluded many Doctors for years, and it was the most obvious solution, and was very easily solved in the privacy of her own home.
According to the medical research I have done, the cause for the compulsive hair pulling condition is unclear. No agreement for treatment is agreed upon by experts. A biopsy, maybe be given to the patient for testing, as well, stress tests, and prescribed anti-depressants.
I did an interview with one of the victims of hair pulling, and out of respect, I'm not going to name names, but let's just call her Betty.
Betty is a lady who I know, and although I am not a Doctor, and I did not write this article to disrespect any Doctors, and I do not pretend to know all the answers. And I'm not trying to give medical advice, if you are hurt, you should always see a Doctor. What I can tell you, is there are a few things you can check out, before going to the Doctor, so they can better help you.
Plus, this is a story of a lady who went through hair pulling, and it was a simple remedy that fixed her problem.
One thing I can tell you is, that I am an expert at research, Research and Development being one of my current career titles. I am also studying to be an Apothecary, and ‘am studying hypnotherapy. And I also have a long list of clients who I read Tarots for, especially those who are seeking love, but that's neither here nor there, but the point is, in the run of a year I help a lot of people, in many different ways.
But Betty's problem broke my heart, and helping her was the greatest reward I could ask for, and if this article helps even one person, who is suffering the way she is, than this article was worth every stroke on my keyboard to pass this along to you.
Betty had long gorges hair about four years ago; she was an active lady of society, very cheerful, happy go lucky, loved life, and all the people in her life. She was active in her local church, working at a food bank, and clothing and feeding the hungry, plus raising money to take care of them. Betty was a pillar of society, and loved by all who knew her, and then something strange happened.
Betty stopped going out. She just wasn't seen by anyone anymore, and she started to keep to herself, and no one knew why.
Betty was suffering so badly, she was too embarrassed to go out the door, she was suffering from hair pulling. It started out slowly, only a few strands a day, than gradually she started getting worse, to the point she didn't even know she was doing it. Her husband, being very concerned, took her to the doctor to see what was the matter with Betty.
The Doctor told her that hair pulling is a mental condition, brought on by some traumatic thing that happened in her life, and she'd send her to psychiatrist, and she'd need to go for sessions.
After six months, and high medical bills, Betty went through the process with a psychiatrist, and took strange tests, and was put on some anti-depressants, Paxil. She didn't like those pills, they made her sick, but she took them just as her Doctor told her.
But alas, Betty was still pulling her hair, and loss pretty well most of it from both sides of her head. By now, Betty's hair was as short as her ears, and she had to wear hats, and bandanas, because she literally pulled out most of her hair. She still had hair, but it was short. But the psychiatrist decided there was no more they could do for her.
After another trip to the Doctor, Betty's doctor decided that Betty and her husband needed couples therapy, and they were to go see a therapist, and find out why Betty was so upset that she would hurt herself.
After a few months they were scheduled in for couple's therapy, with Betty and her husband, paying big bills, going faithfully to the therapy. The therapist had Betty write a journal. Every day Betty had to write her feelings down, everything that went on during her days, and her husband was on the spot. The therapist was trying to figure out what her husband had done that was so terrible that Betty would pull her hair. It almost ended their marriage. Every little aspect of their life was turned from a mole hill into a mountain. After a few months, the therapist decided there was nothing wrong with Betty and her husband's marriage and there was nothing further she could do for them, so she ended the sessions.
Betty was still pulling her hair, and it had been going on 3 years, every time she would create a huge bald spot on one side of her head, behind her ear. And she'd start on another spot, behind the other ear.
She tried using cortisone cream on the spots. As Betty had a history with eczema, and I did a little research for her, and learned that eczema can also get under your hair on your scalp. The only way to get eczema out of your hair, is with cortisone, and when it's that severe, the cortisone pill would be required in order to get to the root of it, because eczema comes from the inside and works its way out. You could ask your Doctor to research the cortisone pill, if you are suffering a sever case of eczema. Betty's Doctor hadn't heard of this new technology of the cortisone pill, and refused to prescribe it for her, and insisted that she needed anti-depressants.
Betty had a mind of her own, and knew cortisone worked for rashes, that she had suffered in the past, and used the cortisone cream that she had for her eczema. It helped heal the spots, and it even promoted a little hair growth, but still Betty was pulling her hair.
She tried another remedy, a bottle of shampoo that I bought her for. Because I am not writing this article to sell any products, I am not going to say which shampoo it was, but if you want to know, you can always send me a message, and I'll be happy to give you the name, and where to buy it. This hair shampoo relieves itchy scalp like no other product on the market. As soon as it touches your skin, you feel relief. It is for people suffering from eczema, psoriasis, itchy scalp, and it was helping her with the relief, and it started to work. I even came up with a remedy of consisting of oatmeal, and she tried that in her hair, along with the conditioner treatments, and it started to work.
When Betty put hair cream in her hair and left it there for about a half hour, and then rinsed it out, about every three days, her hair started to grow. After a while, her hair grew, and the back of her hair actually grew down her back, almost touching her waist line. But Betty had a Doctor's appointment, because she was still pulling the hair behind her ears.
Betty went to the Doctor. The Doctor told her that the hair pulling was all in her mind. It's a mental condition she had, and her mind thinks she is itchy, or irritated, and the nerves are so out of wack, like an empty cup inside her head, in her mind, her mind doesn't get the signals that those spots don't need her attention. The Doctor put her on a very high dose of anti-depressants, Citalorpram, she has 20 grams and she takes one and a half a day and Betty was so drugged day and night, that she was unable to keep up with the hair cream, and shampoos in her hair and her hair pulling got worse, the worst it had ever been. Now she was also bleeding in her spots.
That's where I came back into the equation. I listened to Betty's story, and how much she'd been through, and it seemed unbelievable to me, that hair pulling could be a mental issue. I kept telling her all along, that she shouldn't feel like she's crazy, that her mind was powerful, strong, and she always had a high spirit. Her mind was perfectly fine before she started pulling her hair, and the only thing that is making her pull, is a physical thing. It had to be physical. It always makes me wonder why people end up on anti-depressants, before the physical parts are checked out. I asked Betty if she had been to a dermatologist.
Betty hadn't been to a dermatologist, her skin or hair had never been checked out.
A few things were running through my mind. Maybe it was psoriasis, maybe her eczema had gotten worse. You see Betty had been worse since she got on the strongest doses of ant-depressants, she was so irritated, that she stopped sleeping.
Betty told me that when she put the hair cream behind one ear, in her hair, the irritation will switch to the opposite side of her head. And when she goes to pull, it's like she feels a tingly feeling in a spot, like her hair's reminding her it's there, and she will reach up and instinctively pull on that spot.
I did a little research on different things about skin, and kept thinking about the last place Betty worked. She was working at a clothing depot, where she was laundering clothes from all walks of life, and that place had a high traffic area, and wondered, if she could have gotten something from the clothes. She had long hair at the time she was there, and at the time she started pulling. And I got back to Betty.
I asked her if she ever checked her head for head lice? She said no, that thought had never crossed her mind, that's something usually associated with school children, and Betty didn't have any young children. I found out how to check for head lice by doing a little more research and got her to take the test.
You take some hair cream, and put it on a strand of your hair, from the root right down the tip. Apparently lice like to live behind the ear, and so I got her to check by putting the cream on the hair just behind the ear. She didn't have a nit comb, so I got her to use a fine tooth comb and sweep the comb through the hair cream, and wipe the cream off on a white paper towel. If you have lice, there will be little dark spots in the cream.
Betty checked her hair, and guess what?
She had little dark spots in the cream.
After almost four years, the puzzle was coming together.
The next way to check for lice, is to check your pillow. If you have little bugs under, on, or over your pillow, sometimes on your quilt or blankets. And they are a little bit long, brown, and almost see through, it's head lice. And she checked. And guess what?
There were little brown bugs on her pillow.
Ohhh Betty cried, I cried, her husband cried. She had been through so much torment, believing she had some mental disorder, been on countless anti-depressants, lost her job, her status, and hadn't socialized in years, and all because nobody checked the skin condition first.
Now, Betty had the lice medication, shampooed her hair, and threw out her pillow, cut off her long hair.. And went through two medication shampoo treatments.
And guess what?
It's over four years now, and finally Betty can sleep at night, and she no longer pulls her hair.
Amen to that.
Betty wanted me to tell people who read this article, that in her opinion, "99% of Medical Practitioners, will tell you that your problem is related to your nerves, when they can't figure out what ales you."
A check list for those who are pulling their hair.
For those of you who are pulling your hair, do yourself a favour, and get your hair checked for head-lice, have your skin checked for eczema, or psoriasis, before you let anyone tell you that you have a mental disorder, and make you feel as though you are crazy. Before you start taking anti-depressants, try checking the fundamentals first.
Apparently head lice is hard to catch, I'm not a Doctor, or a Dermatologist, but it sounds logical to me, that lice medication would kill just about anything, and even if you can't find any, put the treatment in your hair anyway. If there are any bugs in there, they will be killed on contact, and if not, at least you got that out of the way, and can go onto the next logical conclusion.
If that test come out clear, don't despair, you can try this.
If that doesn't work, and you are still pulling, you should see a Dermatologist, get your skin and hair checked. From what I have witnessed, hair pulling has nothing to do with your mind, it's a physical thing, there is something making you irritated, a bug, a rash, allergy to dust mites, and it won't go away until you find out what the physical problem is, and physically do something about it.
Info about lice.
One, lice don't like hair cream, or hair gel. If you put hair gel in your hair, lice will keep on trucking. If you put hair cream in your hair and leave it sit for a half hour, and do it once a week, it will keep the lice from hopping in your hair. They don't like it, and if any are in your hair, leaving the cream in slows them down, I even heard it suffocates them, but not their eggs. There is also a spray you can get that's made by K24, like hairspray, and spray on you or your kids once a month and it repels lice, and it's made by the lice treatment company.
Why lice make you itch.
Lice spit on your scalp, this spit is like an acid and the reaction your skin has to it, is what makes you itch. That is why Betty was pulling, it was her bodies way of protecting itself from the spit of lice.
Be very careful with lice medication.
It can make you go blind if it gets into your eyes. You can apply it to your hair, much like you would apply hair dye.
Easy method to applying lice solution.
You part your hair in layers, and put the medication on a paper towel, with gloves you apply it to each layer. As you dab it on, swish it around to get the bubbles going. You will find dead lice and eggs on the tissue as you go along, disregard them as you work through your hair. You leave the treatment in your hair for a half an hour, and rinse it out.
After you treated your hair, here's the next step.
You put hair conditioner in your hair, white hair conditioner, and use a nit comb. You comb out the conditioner stroke by stroke, and each time you wipe off the hair conditioner on a paper towel. You do this every night for seven days, and then reapply the lice medicated treatment. Keep everything in a tightly sealed bag, ziplock. You can clean your nit comb with hot water, pour some lice medicine on it, and also with an old tooth brush, or dental floss.
Cleaning after you have been treated.
You wash your pillows, blankets, jackets, hats with hot water, and either the lice shampoo, or lice detergent. Dry your clothes in a dryer, or hang on the line in the hot sun. Also check everyone in the house for lice in their hair, and give them the same treatment. You can even put some of the solution in a spray bottle and spray down your matress, sofa, chairs.. ect.
I know it's a pain in the patuey, but it's worth it and will save you a grave stress down the road, because they won't leave on their own, until you get rid of them with the medicine.
To kill mites in your home without chemicals.
If you believe it could be mites, as in bedbugs, or rug-mites, there is a great product on the market, it's a dust mite killer, it looks like a kettle and has a long spout. It only takes water, and when it heats up, you push the button and hot steam comes out the spout and kills mites on contact. No chemicals, it won't make you sick, it cleans drapes, mattresses, carpets, baseboards, anything you put the steam on. It even takes out stains.
To kill mites in your home with chemicals.
If you still feel like mites are all over, and are still reacting to them, you can put some of the K24 lice, flea, bed bug, rug mite, dust mite, killer, or another brand if you find one that kills those type of pests, in a spray bottle with some water, and spray the areas that are the worst. Make sure the room is ventilated, and that you aren't breathing it in. You can always use a steamer to clean the area after. Becareful around small children and pets when using any chemicals in your home.
Betty said to tell you, "When you are suffering from hair pulling, having your head checked for lice first, could save you a whole life-time of misery, and loss so great, that you will never get it back."
Betty's Doctor, since, has put her on a steriod cream, which has helped her scalp to heal, and she is feeling better.
Betty you were very brave to share your story with all my readers, and I thank you, and hope that this article will help someone out there.
I have another article, Which is about Toxic Hairloss from hair-dye, Daisy's story. These two ladies had gotten thier hair conditions at the same time, and ironically lasted for the same amount of time. Their conditions are unrelated, but thier misery is shared. Here's Daisy's link.
Peace be with you.
Sacreeta
This article is written with the sole intention of informational purposes. It is not INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. The author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. Any information on the links provided is not the responsibility of, or is influenced by the author of this article, or publisher. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.
