Online Test

Find out the severity of your symptoms with this free online test

MerrienR , 15 Sep 2020

Chronic scalp pain help

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and I'm glad it exists.
I've read some of your testimonies and I love the solidarity that emanates from it, letting me feel less desperate.
Let me introduce my story which is painful, as a trichotillomania patient can probably understand it. (I'm french so please be kind about maybe weird sentence formulations).
I'm a 20yrs old guy and have started pulling my hair practically 4 years ago. It was and is still situated on my right gulf and I started it because, I don't even know today why, I woke up a day seeing my hair on this part of the scalp cut shorter than at another place on my scalp (I guess I cut it during a party the day before and being drunk, I don't remember this). I precise that I have CURLY hair.
As I was complexed by this condition (I didn't want to cut entirely my hair), I started to pull the small "wick" (I never pulled hair by hair) very ardently, not to tear out the hair, but to "accelerate" the growth (I was absolutely mad at this time). Likewise, the sensation of pulling it put me in ecstasy, like a drug addiction. Very quickly, my hair became thinner and my scalp started to become painful. 6 months later, I wrote on a piece of paper that I would stop and signed it, which I did. The next 6 month, I pratically stopped touching my hair and my condition was way better. But a little pain was still there. So I decided to use argan oil as I felt it dry (curly hair) on my scalp for 6 months again. In the short run, argan oil soothed my scalp, but created dandruff and pain by using it regularly. At the end of the 6 months, I knew that is wasn't the solution.
Without going into details, I tried many things the last 2 years but nothing really worked. I still noticed that when I hydrate and get my hair soft and nourrished, the pain descreases drastically but in counterpart, the use of nourrishing products reach to create dandruff and scalp itch. I feel like I'm in a dead end.
My scalp is always pink-red, and I don't know what to do.
Please, if you have met a similar situation, tell me what could heal me.

1 Answer
cherryblossom
October 23, 2020
Hello!
Having been suffering from Trich for quite a while now, I know the ecstasy part of it.
But it looks like you have overcome the urge to pull and kudos to you for that! :-D
The post-pulling part that is pain in the scalp, redness, dandruff could be due to other reasons for which you could visit a Dermatologist.
I'm no doctor, but you could give Dermatology a try.
Hope it works!! :)

Start your journey with TrichStop

Take control of your life and find freedom from hair pulling through professional therapy and evidence-based behavioral techniques.

Start Now