So I guess it is good news when a hair puller has to go get a hair cut. I can’t say as that happens too often for me. Even now, it was just taking off split ends and a bit of length in the very back so it wouldn’t look quite so stringy. I have very little LONG hair right now. For the most part, I have two long sections (one on top & then the nape of my neck), and the rest has been trying to grow back in. I have been wearing bandanas and wide scarves for about a year now. You can see my pics page for more about how my hair looked in early 2007.
But after 9 months or so of extreme “damage” to my head, it is finally starting to fill back in. I don’t have the length, but at least now I don’t have visible bald or thin patches.
These are apparently from February (ouch):
These are from today. I’m happy that the right side of my head can now be covered.:
Now if I could just get this spot to fill in, then I would really be happy. But this is my most damaged area, and I don’t know whether it will ever be truly healthy and full again….especially because I still pull. But one thin area I can deal with, its when my whole head is showing skin that I get really self conscious. For now I just wear my bandanas and hope for the best. At least from the back ^^ it looks like any other person with frizzy hair pulled back in a headband!
Now it all just needs to get long again. If only it were that easy.
Wow you are so brave posting the photos but it is great that you are. I hope the hair continues to improve, I think it still looks pretty healthy even on the thin areas
I still can’t bring myself to go out in public without a head covering of some sort. I guess I see this as my next closest attempt at truly putting it all out there and trying to truly just live with the fact that I have TTM, always will in one form or another, and not letting it own me anymore.
I am still in shock that there are other people out there who fight this. Thanks for posting.
Thanks so much for sharing that. I suffered badly with trichotillimania when I was in my teens, except I didn’t know it had a name. I was just the weird kid who pulled all her hair out. Wow, it’s kind of hard me even typing that now and I have some tears as I’m writing. I went to a child psychiatrist but it didn’t help. It just made me feel weirder. I had to wear a horrible hat in my class and every time my hand went to my head, I would have loads of people either laughing at me or shouting at me to take my hand away.
I wasn’t cured, but I did it less. Now, I have a ‘full’ head of hair with a few, hidden bald spots here and there. I am still traumatised by going to the hairdresser though. I have very long hair now because the comments by the hairdresser from when I was young still grate on me.
So, I wouldn’t put myself out as an ‘example’ but just to say, I suffered enormously. I still do. I still pull at my hair but not at the same rate and it isn’t so noticeable.
I’m staying anonymous for the moment. I have a blog but it isn’t remotely related. I’ll be coming back though as I think it’s something that’s a part of me that I can and could never really share. For me, this is the beauty of the internet.
Thanks.