If you have noticed that your child pulls out their hair, maybe without noticing or even in their sleep, then
they may have trichotillomania. This is a big word but please don’t panic.
*If you have come to this page without ever having heard of trichotillomania it is basically the impulsive pulling of one’s own hair, from any area of the body. Please see this article or this site for more info.*
Will Your Child Recover?
The good news is that the younger your child starts pulling out their hair, the more likely it is that they will just grow out of it. However, if you feel it may be a problem or that it is persisting for a long time please visit a doctor for an official diagnosis.
Even if this is something your child does not grow out of on their own, you can work with them to help them deal with this and to let them know that they are not alone.
What Can You Do To Help?
*It is very important for any child who pulls their own hair that they have supportive parents.*
If the child is very young, he or she may not even know or care about what they are doing. But children with trichotillomania may soon find that other children notice their condition, especially if it results in bald patches.
Please do not tell your child off for pulling their hair. Instead be honest with them, and let them know you understand that it is not something they have control over.
There are a number of other ways you can help your child: keep them busy with activities that distract them from pulling, asking them to wear gloves if they pull hair in their sleep, letting them talk about any stress and problems that may lead them to pull, providing them will a healthy diet to reduce compulsions to pull and so on.
This post is an introduction to how you may help your child who has trichotillomania. For more advice please check this blog often, and subscribe here. You can also visit related sites for in depth information about trichotillomania:
An article on children with Trichotillomania
Advice for parents of small children
Trichotillomania Learning Center
How to help others with trichotillomania
Do you think your child has trichotillomania? Please contact me if you just want some personal advice about how I wish I had been treated as a child, or if you have any advice of your own.
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My name's Penny, and I started OnTrich (a trichotillomania blog) to try and raise awareness about hair pulling, and also as a way to help me deal with my own pulling. I'm a 22 year old girl from the UK and I've been pulling for 12 years. Get in touch if you want to chat or need any help - I love meeting people here.
Personal advise concerning my 7 year old daughter. Please respond.
Yes, Please share anything that you found helpful. As a toddler he use to twirl his hair and mine at bed time. I guess it was his way of relaxing. Heck, I even twirl mine when I drive the car and I am 41. He has just recently started to pull his eye lashes out but it seems to be getting worse. He is very active in sports and has plenty to do so I do not think he is bored. What can we do to help him?
Sorry I took so long to reply to your comment. I have to say that unfortunately telling him those things probably won’t help, simply because he can’t control it well. The good news is that in many cases young children have been known to grow out of trich. If you visit the doctor then the doctor may not have ecen heard of the condition, though if they have they might be able to help.
I think you should just try to be there for him. Telling him not to do it won’t help, but certain practical measures could. So for example you can put vaseline on the eyelashes to make them slippery so he can’t get a grip on them and pull them, or he could wear gloves at certain times of the day. Or you should find other ways to keep his hands busy, and keeping hands busy is often the best way of stopping it from happening.
In many cases diet will have a big effect on pulling hair or eyelashes, and there is more info here:http://www.geocities.com/~modularforms/trich/ideas.html#diet
Feel free to email me again if you have more questions. I hope there’s something you can do to help your son