Trichotillomania is the medical term that describes a hair-pulling disorder. It’s a condition that afflicts 1 in 200 people and is typically more prevalent in girls and women. Although it’s a common affliction, it’s not always easy to identify, especially from a young age.
If you’ve been diagnosed with Trichotillomania, you’ll undoubtedly be self-conscious about your hair loss. Thankfully, it’s possible to manage Trichotillomania with hair replacement options to regain your self-confidence. Here’s how with Image & Co’s help:
Cabello Medi™ – Female Hair Loss Replacement
Cabello Medi™ is the ideal Trichotillomania hair replacement solution for women. An initial consultation with our expert team at Image & Co will help us determine the extent of your hair loss and discuss your hair loss replacement options to help with Trichotillomania management.
The way that the Cabello Medi™ Trichotillomania hair replacement system works is simple. Your customised hair replacement system attaches over the areas on your head where you’ve experienced hair loss.
These fine strands of hair get attached to the scalp in rows and last for up to four months. After this period, our team will professionally remove them and, if required, apply a new hair replacement system to your head or clean and reattach.
Medication
Replacing any torn-out hair is just part of the solution to Trichotillomania. Other things will help you deal with trichotillomania and target the cause of the condition. Many women that experience Trichotillomania find their condition is associated with anxiety and depression.
Your GP is best-placed to offer you help so you can deal with anxiety and depression. Prescription medication that deals specifically with anxiety and depression is one such example.
Image & Co can offer you support in many ways, such as our Women’s hair replacement service, you will need to consult with your GP for medication. Bear in mind that prescription medicine should get used alongside other techniques to manage your Trichotillomania.
Habit reversal techniques
Trichotillomania is undoubtedly a condition where you have a habit that is often quite difficult to break. But, that doesn’t mean such a goal is impossible or unrealistic. Did you know that distraction techniques help you break and reverse the habit and often prove successful?
For example, you could always carry something with you to keep your fingers busy whenever you’ve got the urge to pull on your hair. Some women that experience trichotillomania find that keeping their minds (and fingers) occupied is another way.
Hobbies or pastimes like knitting and crochet, making things, and even playing video games are just three of many ways to stop your mind making you pull at your hair.
It also makes sense to keep a diary with you and make a note of the times where you do pull your hair. Keeping such a journal helps you to avoid the environments that give you the need to pull.
Relaxation
There are many ways to ease the symptoms of anxiety and tension. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing exercises are tried and tested methods, and they are things you can do at home.
Your GP can give you advice on the best relaxation methods to try. Alternatively, you can look to the Web for inspiration. Check out some relaxation videos on YouTube to find ones that you’re willing to try.
Relaxation techniques help reduce the urge to pull on your hair because your body and mind feel calm and relaxed. It also helps to steer clear of stressful situations (or people) as they can exacerbate your anxiety and increase the urge to pull at your hair.
Buddy System
It’s always good to talk with other people that understand what you’re going through with your trichotillomania. As part of our trichotillomania management & hair replacement service, and where possible, we’ll let you ‘buddy up’ with someone that is or was using our service.
Having a trichotillomania buddy gives you the chance to talk to someone else that is or was going through the condition. They can offer you support and encouragement and be a friendly ear whenever you feel anxious.
The buddy system also allows you to make new lifelong friends, especially if your self-esteem is low, and you seldom attend any social gatherings.
Peer Support
Aside from the buddy system, another way that our Trichotillomania management service can help is with peer support. At Image & Co, we regularly hold social and relaxed gatherings and invite all our clients with Trichotillomania to attend.
The purpose of our peer support meetings is to create a safe and welcoming environment where everyone can exchange their views on Trichotillomania and ideas on managing it. As with the buddy system, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people and make new friends.
Each of our peer support meetings gets held at our premises, providing our clients with a familiar, safe and friendly environment.
Access to an Out-of-Hours Crisis Line
There will be times where you may find you need to talk to someone urgently. For example, you might have a strong urge to pull on your hair but are worried about damaging your trichotillomania hair replacement system.
Or, you may find that you can’t get hold of your buddy and need some urgent help to decrease your anxiety. For instance, you may have had an incredibly stressful situation occur earlier in the day and are having trouble coping with it.
In such events, Image & Co can provide you with access to an out-of-hours crisis line. All you need to do is leave a message, and one of our team will contact you within 24 hours.
Follow-up Appointments
At Image & Co, we want to check on your progress regularly. That’s why we encourage all our Trichotillomania hair replacement clients to book regular follow-up appointments with us.
They are friendly and informal appointments that give us the chance to address any of your concerns about your progress.
Contact Image & Co today to book a consultation and find out how we can help you with our Trichotillomania hair replacement and Trichotillomania management service.
