Avoid chemicals in your daily life
Whether in your diet, in your household cleaning supplies, as a part of medication or in your cosmetics, or specialisty products like Latisse for trichotillomania, try to reduce the chemicals that are present in your daily life.
Life today is replete with chemicals that are brandished as the cure for everything from runny noses to dog smells in the carpet. However the presence of these chemicals can be harmful in discreet ways. Current research is beginning to show that over exposure to common chemicals can be more harmful than previously thought. Some everyday products are now suspected to have a role in increasing rates of diseases like cancer as well a behavioral conditions such as autism. Because we have always had these products in our life, we never stop to think about alternatives. Vinegar and baking soda are all natural, and amazingly effective substances for many household needs.
Cosmetics for eyelash pullers should be all natural
This includes cosmetics. Do not use heavily chemical creams, makeup, or eyeliners as this can be irritating, preventing healing and actually causing you to have more urges. As an ex eyelash puller I am always wary of using mascara or eyeliner as a Trichotillomania sufferer. Even today, after all of my eyelashes and eyebrows have grown back in, I am careful not to put anything on them that might make them fragile, itch or worse yet, draw my attention to how they feel and start trying to pick off the mascara (which would of course lead to picking at my eyelashes).
Only use all natural products such as essential oils and herbal essences, and reduce the presence of chemicals in your daily routine.
After years battling trichotillomania and looking for a cure for hair pulling, I am more and more convinced that chemicals have an affect on my eyelash pulling condition. I have always felt that chemicals of any form ( in my food, in my environment and even in makeup) aggravate me and increase the urge to pull my hair out. After this past Halloween (see my post about makeup and eyelash pullers) I’m even more convinced about makeup increasing eyelash pulling. And now I’m even more convinced about food, especially processed food and food with high sugar content causing my urges to pull out my hair to increase. After a summer diet of healthy food I never had any urges to pull my hair. However, as the short days of winter set in and the hectic pace of back to school began I started eating less well. The sugar content went up in my diet and I slipped into a bad habit of relying on processed foods in a pinch. And what should return but my urges to pull out my eyelashes and eyebrows. I didn’t succomb, thanks to my trusty Trich Stop kit and my supply of Trich Stop hair growth oil, but I was tempted. And I am 100% sure that it was becasue of my diet. So my advice to anyone trying to find a cure for hair pulling or treating trichotillomania is to start by looking at your diet and cutting out any and all junk and treat yourself to natural diet to cure trichotillomania.
Should I use products like Latisse for trichotillomania and my eyelash pulling?
I am often asked if eyelash pullers should use products such as Latisse to help grow their eyelashes back. Having studied these products, the effects of chemicals on a Trichotillomania treatment and having used them personally in my own eyelash pulling treatment, I have to say I am overwhelmingly against using these products in your Trichotillomania cure. Latisse for trichotillomania and eyelash pullers do not make happy bedfellows. There are several reasons why I feel this way, let me explain:
– using chemicals to treat hair pulling of any sort will only exacerbate the urges to pull and the physical conditions that may surround your trich condition.
– Trichotillomania sufferers should use only all natural products such as essential oils to soothe the follicles, reduce urges, and encourage helathly follicles and eyelash growth
– eyelash pullers should have a product that they can use as often as they need to rub in whenever they feel the urge to pull. This will change the behavior and retrain neural pathways from pulling to rubbing.
– this brings me to the fact that a Trichotillomania sufferer must attack the condition itself, and not just hope for a miracle cure to grow eyelashes so that the sufferer can continue to pull.
– in my own experience, Latisse caused my eyelashes to turn red, be irritated and grow strangely. There was much more harm than good done as I was so aware of my eyelashes becasue of the side effects that I couldn’t keep my attention (or hands) away from my eyes.
– we don’t really know what the lasting side effects of Latisse for trichotillomania could be, and there are a lot of indications that they could be dangerous indeed!
– Latisse is horribly expensive. There are much more reasonable products to use.
My advice, as a previous eyelash trichotillomania sufferer is to get some sort of all natural product (such as Trich Stop Oil) and use it in conjunction with a well thought out plan (such as the Trich Stop System) to cure your eyelash pulling condition. Concentrate your time, money and resources on a cure, and after that, your eyelashes will come!
[…] using chemicals to treat hair pulling of any sort will only exacerbate the urges to pull and the physical conditions that may surround […]