DSS pulled out his eyelashes

[wantstosleepnow]

He is 8YO and he said he did it because he liked the feeling, now he has started on his eyebrows.

It has definately got me worrying

It might be trichotyllomania. I only know because I once wondered if I might have had it when I was a child, but I think I had flakey eyelids due to exema.

Hi, I think this is usually caused by anxiety - does he have any worries on his mind?

I have experience of this - and it needs to be nipped in the bud. It is just a very bad habit - which is the same drive as biting nails, chewing lips, pulling out hair on your head etc. Do anything you can to stop him doing it as he'll carry on until he has none left. It's very common, so seek help from GP if you need to. Stop him doing it for any length of time - a couple of weeks maybe - and it'll break the cycle, but you need to stop him as it'll get more ingrained. Sorry to sound dramatic, but my best friendy did it at school and it really fucked her up. He may not have the will power to break the habit so you need to intervene. There's no psychological issue, like I said it's just like biting your nails. Please do anything you can to stop him though. Just be harsh.

Didnt want to read and run, off to bed soon but have a look at this. He may have Trichotillomania. I have it and I pull out the hair from my scalp and very occasionally eyebrows and eye lashes. (I was diagnosed aged 27 but my mum remebers me doing it as a child but didnt think it was unusual)
I usually do not realise I am doing it until I have a wee pile of hair by my side, I am lucky in the respect that I dont have any Balding patches as I pull the hair from all over my scalp and not just a concentrated area. I have received CBT for this too and it has helped me greatly.

i would have thought gp would be the best place.
how is he otherwise
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thehy will grow back though.

Sounds like it could be the begining of self harm, not meaning to be dramatic either but it's all about him controlling his feelings/making himself feel by causing himself physical pain instead. Are there any stresses in his life at the mo?

Do you know, you might be right, Popzie.
I never progressed to my eyebrows or hair but always had gappy lashes and sore eyelids - until I started college and could wear make up every day.

I think cleaning the eyes thoroughly every night cleared up the flakiness , but if someone had addressed it sooner I don't think it would have gone on that long.

Not sure how you nip a habit in the bud, though - would love to hear how.

sound likes Trichotilomania to me too. I have it, I pull my eyebrows and scalp hairs. I started on my eyelashes when I was 11, but managed to stop that. I have been pulling for 20 years and hate it.

to Glasgowlass Did CBT really work well?

You can get over it - completely, so don't worry too much but you do need to address it. It's definately the same thing as pulling out eyebrows/hair etc. BUT also, my friend had eczema too on her eyes so maybe it starts as an itiching relief thing and then just escalades to pulling out lashes because it offers the same sort of relief? I don't know, but I just think go to the GP on Monday.

I do it to my eyebrows normally, it's habit rather than anything psychological with me. I don't realise I'm ding it until I see the mound of hairs.

Hey SGK!

I have to say that for me the CBT has helped to modify my behaviour, I do still pull but my DP has noticed I do it with much less frequency now & I do realise sooner myself when I am pulling whereas before I would be pulling for a while, totally oblivious, almost like it was a normal, sub-concious thing to do! Having said that I have been pulling my hair out whilst reading and typing on this thread.

Do you think your GP would ve willing to refer you for CBT? Mine did after numerous requests and I would recommend it. Its worth a try.

OP, would second that your DSS sees his GP, having it caught early could make a huge difference!

In my case, I had flakes of skin at the roots of my lashes, which felt rough and itchy if I rubbed my finger along them.

So I'd pick away to remove the flakes, only for the lashes to come away with them, leaving raw red patches and visible gaps.

If only someone had pointed out all you need is hot water and cotton wool.

Oh, a trip to the gp maybe would have helped.

(Too many ishoos there).

How does CBT work? I have seen people mention it on the trich site but its not a road I have gone down, I asked the GP to fund a hair system and the NHS said no so not holding my breathe for the local NHS to fund CBT tbh

SGK

CBT wiki here

In my case my CBT programme was about making me realise certain triggers, like not sitting in a slouching position where my hands would automatically go straight to my scalp and about spotting if any other factors triggers my trich. It was about helping me to conciously stop myself from pulling and try to address the causes be it boredom, stress, anxiety etc. I found that it worked best for me on a one to one basis with my therapist and the group sessions were not really productive. Its not a cure but has helped me.

My trich has been with me for years, at least 25 years and I know it wont go away completely or even lessen quickly but I feel empowered now I have had help addressing it and have been told its not a bad habit but an actual behavioural problem I have.

I would certainly ask your GP for a referral stating the impact it has on your day to day living, self esteem etc. I think my GP referred me as my trich had escalated with both AND and PND and due to some very shtty things happening in my homelife. I had asked her for a few years for help with it and none was forthcoming tbh.

There may be a self referral CBT team in your area, I would definately do some research into this and if you work, some employers offer employee councelling and CBT is sometimes included in that.

I am off to bed now, knackered but I am more than happy to chat with you on/off the board in more detail, offer you support etc. I dont have CAT but you can email me. Will add email address in another post so I can then have it deleted.

Trich is a recognised disorder and you should receive treatment for it!

Thanks Glasglow I will email you quickly now so you have my email and I will chat to you another day when I have some time.

I've done this to my eyelashes only since i was about 9 and I still do it. (am now 39.) I think it started as i used to get styes and the GP plucked eyelashes out from the stye, so I did the same when i got a stye, then started to do it generally. I get eczema and itchy eyelids too, so maybe linked to that too. It is definitely just a habit like nail biting, although i do it more when i am stressed. It's really hard to explain exactly why i do it, I kind of like the feeling i guess. I pretty much always have eyelash bald patches, although it is probably not that noticeable as i wear makeup. No advice as i've never sought treatment. I keep thinking i will discipline myself to stop doing it, but as i have done it for 30 years that probably isn't going to happen. Mine do always grow back though on a positive note. Sorry not much help, just thought i'd share my experiences. I also bite my mouth!

I think I read a while back that these sort of compulsions can be linked to Tourette's, or were some form of Tourettes, as in tics.

Not the same as the compulsion felt in OCD, where it feels that not to do the thing would result in some dire consequence, but it just somehow feels 'right,' although the sense of 'rightness' doesn't always last long, hence having to repeat the action.

I would suggest, MangoTango, if you haven't tried it already, scrupulously cleaning (almost to the point of scrubbing) your eyelids at night with cotton wool and the hottest water you can stand.

This is standard treatment for blepharitis which is often the cause of itchy eyelids.

Might be worth seeing your GP for a cream or drops as well.

Thanks OLOPS. Only thing is I think hot water and scrubbing is not recommended for eczema as it would exacerbate it and i have eczema on one of my eyelids. Also i don't always do it because my eyelids are itchy. Quite often it is just a kind of absent minded thing. Will read up on blepharitis though just in case as I've not heard of that.
OP hope you manage to help your DSS with this. Don't really have any suggestions as I'm not sure what would have helped me. Easier for a woman i suppose as we can wear eyeliner which disguises it. I only have small bald patches at the moment and areas with shorter lashes. There is a mum with a child in the year below my daughter at school who doesnt look like she has eyelashes and i did wonder if she has trich too.

I think it is linked to when i had the styes and the GP plucked the lashes from them actually as sometimes i gently tug my eyelashes (absentmindedly) and if any of them hurt when i do so, then i pull those ones out (even though i don't really get styes any more.)