Anyone managed to stop scalp picking or hair pulling habits?

[Haemagoblin]

I pick my scalp when I'm anxious/bored. I used to pull my hair out as a teen so this is actually an improvement as at least I don't have bald patches now! but i do have two scabs on my scalp and I just can't stop doing it. I know if I could give them a chance to heal I could stop but every day I pick them again. It is sore, and obviously disgusting.

I know this is a known condition, and associated with ADHD which I believe I have, but I can't find any guidance on how to stop it.

Has anyone else done this, or the hair pulling thing, and found a way not to do it?

No, I have diagnosed ADHD and ASD and I do the same thing, I haven’t worked out how to stop. I have other stims and can’t stop those either.

I'm a terrible picker (but avoid my face).

About a year ago i had a picky area on my scalp which i kept at until it was sore. In the end i decided to spend some money on a really nice scalp healing/dry skin soothing shampoo and made a determined effort to let it heal. It worked for me.

I think because by buying something to treat it it made it a real issue which needed dealing with, if that makes sense? Rather than an almost dream like state thing.

I had a scabby patch on my head for a few years, I finally got rid of it by telling my DH and DD to tell me off when I tried to scratch it.

My habit was doing it in the evening so one or both of them was around to spot me if I tried to do it, helps that we have a small house with open plan living downstairs.
I got them to photograph it every month aswell.

I also started regularly exercising after dinner and going for an evening walk so less time to scratch.

During the day at work there is no heating so I wore a hat indoors and that stopped me touching the patch. This was over 2 winters ago that it finally went. Hopefully I've broken the habit now.

I do this too, also have ADHD. It's difficult not to. Most of the time I'm not aware I'm doing it.

I used to do it, and I am sure it was because I used to dye my own hair and there always seemed to be little itchy patches on scalp that I would pick at. I used to make a concentrated effort not to do it a week before I went to the hairdressers because it was embarrassing.

I don't dye anymore; my hair is natural, and thank God, the urge to pick has mostly gone too.

I realised I was doing this when bored and/or anxious, now I try to just massage the area with my fingertips rather than picking and it definitely works for the boredom, and if I notice I'm doing it in time, for the anxiety too. Keeping my nails short also helps with this.

I know that it's not exactly the same, but I used to bite my nails (had done so from childhood) and was really surprised after I started to take magnesium supplements regularly that I just stopped - the urge just went away. This wasn't something that I'd thought about or heard anything about beforehand. So if you don't take magnesium already, it could be worth a shot?

https://amzn.eu/d/05ttfX8J wonder if you might find this book helpful op? This is an amazon link but sure you could buy elsewhere. Sorry edited as title didn't come up - it's called Overcoming Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors: A Comprehensive Behavioral Treatment for Hair Pulling and Skin Picking

Yes. It wasn’t too much of an issue because I bit my nails too so they were always short and couldn’t do too much damage (other than the damage I did biting my nails). I’ve stopped trying to bite my nails and realised the skin/scalp picking is worse and now I can hurt myself a lot more. I’ve bought fidgets to try and move the urge into. I’ve also found having gels on my nails means that whilst they are longer, they aren’t as sharp so I can try picking but I can’t get the same traction I can with a finger nail. It’s also means when I’m digging a finger nail it’s also not causing as much pain and I can’t bite my nails the same. Although sometimes I do know pick the nails off.

So not stopped it but trying to divert it onto things that don’t hurt me.

I have only recently ( last 3 yrs) started scalp picking. I can get to the point where it’s almost healed then I aggravate it again. It’s definitely stress related since the last three years have been a roller coaster.
I do have an allergy to SLS and benzyl benzoate, present in the majority of shampoos and conditioners. So after much research I’ve found a range of hair products that are very “free from” chemicals. It has improved the underlying itchy scalp that seems to trigger the picking.

It may also be a side effect of a drug I take. It started around the time my scalp dried out. Hopefully I will be able to stop the drug later this year.

It probably hasn’t helped that I retired a couple of years ago from a career where my hands were gloved all the time and infection control meant I couldn’t scratch my head at work.

Keeping nails short and double washing hair every day helps whenever I go through a bout of scalp picking. I find when my scalp and hair are really clean and not at all oily it is much less satisfying to pick so I just don’t do it and then it has time to heal.

Play games like candy crush or homescapes. Occupies your hands so you can't keep picking it.

This is really interesting - do you know what type of magnesium it was?

I either bite my nails to the quick (in which case I can’t pick at my scalp/other skin because I have nothing to pick with) or manage to grow my nails but then use them to pick… also have spells of pulling out hair, so a whole load of terrible habits. My son also has some of these repetitive habits (pulling out eyelashes and eyebrow hairs) and I wish I could help us both.

Thank you all so much for these suggestions! I do dye my hair and wash every other day so maybe these are things I could change. And putting a hat of headband on in the house is a great idea - might be enough to make me stop and think before I pick! Thanks all <3

Faith in Nature does some lovely natural shampoos which don't aggravate the scalp & cause itching. Worth a look.

I do this too and have recently bought myself a Picky Pad fidget - working for me so far!

I'm pretty sure it was High Potency Magnesium by Viridian - I have no link to them!!!

I've had trichotillomania (hair pulling) for over 30 years and haven't really done it at all in the last 5/6 years. Antidepressants have helped me and not having my hair down in the evenings so I can't sit and fiddle with it.
Clean hair helps. And weirdly, because you'd think it would set me off, watching videos of hairs being picked YouTube stops me wanting to do it to myself.

False nails.

They're thick enough that picking or scratching doesn't really do much. After a while you get out of the habit. If you relapse, just start wearing them again.

Body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) is the technical term for this if you want to google it. It’s one of the trickiest things to treat, and very easy to make worse, because drawing attention to it, increases the compulsion.

Be cautious who you look to for help with it because non-specialists will tend to reach to the obvious (and counter productive) solutions if they haven’t up to date training. From a specialist/ expert/ authority that can land hard - a negative experience with a gp can set you right back. It’s one of those things where the support and suggestions of fellow sufferers online can be more beneficial.

It’s really important to try and reduce the shame around it, because that’s part of the self perpetuating cycle, so be mindful of any negative self talk, and push back on disgust with self compassion if you can. Practising self compassion in other contexts, on a regular or daily basis can help make it more reflexive when it’s needed. The Buddhist practice of Metta meditation is one option.

It’s so reassuring to know I’m not alone in this. I started during Covid and relapsed after a bereavement. I even do it in the middle of the night. Wearing a little cotton hat does help sometimes but I’m totally unconscious of doing it most of the time. I’m currently down to one patch.

I was twiddling my hair even as a baby so having my hand to my head is deeply ingrained. I definitely don’t have ADHD but have had some OCD tendencies in the past.

I hate it but can’t stop

Ah interesting! For me it's when I wash my hair that the back of my scalp feels itchy. The following day or two isn't as bad.

I let myself scratch my scalp. It’s under my hair so no one sees it and sometimes it’s the only thing that helps a certain feeling.

My niece got great relief from a range of ADHD linked stresses from magnesium l-threonate.
Medication did not agree with her and this was suggested as an alternative.
It has been a great success.
She is 18.

Those shampoos make my head worse. I think you have to find the right shampoo for you.

I agree with a pp that keeping your hair really clean helps.