A trichotillomania sufferer who has been pulling out her hair since she was a baby has shared her methods for combatting the disorder after her experience went viral on TikTok.
Lucia Frances, 26, originally from Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, and now living in Surrey Quays, south-east London, said her mother first noticed her “strange” behaviour when she was a few months old and would touch her hair while being nursed.
Over the years, Lucia went on to struggle with twisting and pulling out her hair but it was only in her teenage years that she came across trichotillomania, the name for a disorder where someone pulls out their own hair, and felt as though her mannerisms aligned.
After she broke an eight-month clean streak from hair-pulling in August this year, Lucia turned to TikTok to start creating videos about trichotillomania and since then, tens of millions of people have flocked to her channel to praise her for her bravery and her advice.
Lucia’s hacks include the “intermittent hair up-do”, which involves changing her hairstyle to “break” her urges, the “sandwich method” of creating windows of time when she cannot pull her hair, and distraction techniques such as crocheting and playing with extensions or hair bands instead.
She also promotes positive affirmations, encouraging sufferers to tell themselves “I can go pull-free” and “I am mindful of my habit”.
“Something that resonates with people, and something that really helps me, is trying not to focus on the hairs you have pulled, but more so focus on the hairs you still have and make sure those are healthy,” Lucia, a social media manager for a marketing agency, told PA Real Life.
“If you focus on the growth, you’ll grow impatient but if you try and keep what you have, it’s nicer and more positive.”
Trichotillomania, also known as trich or TTM, is when someone cannot resist the urge to pull out their hair, according to the NHS.
Some people with the disorder may pull out the hair on their head or in other places, such as their eyebrows or eyelashes, and it usually starts between the ages of 10 and 13 years old.
Symptoms of trichotillomania
According to the NHS
People with trich feel an intense urge to pull their hair out and they experience growing tension until they do. After pulling their hair out, they feel a sense of relief.
A person may sometimes pull their hair out in response to a stressful situation, or it may be done without really thinking about it.
Most people with trich pull out hair from their scalp, but some pull out hair from other areas, such as their:
- eyebrows
- eyelashes
- genital area
- beard or moustache
Bald patches on the head may have an unusual shape and affect 1 side of the head more than the other.
Trich may cause feelings of shame and low self-esteem. Those affected may try to keep their condition to themselves.
Lucia said her mother noticed she was touching her hair when she was a few months old, saying: “My mum would tell me she would be nursing me and I would be touching my hair.”
Over the years, Lucia said she started to “twist” and “pull out” strands of her hair, usually towards the back of her head, but she did not realise she was experiencing trichotillomania until she was around 15.
“For me, it’s more like I twist my hair and then while I’m twisting my hair, I will pull it out,” she explained, adding this will worsen when she is home alone without distractions, often while watching TV.
“I haven’t had bald patches fortunately but I’ve had very short hairs and my hair was thinning a lot.
“The quality of my hair has been very poor and damaged in the past.”
In August this year, Lucia broke an eight-month streak of not twisting and pulling her hair – but this prompted her to begin making videos on TikTok about the disorder as she felt she had lots of tips to kickstart a clean slate.
Under the handle @lulucrf she has devised two key methods, which she named herself, to avoid pulling her hair – the intermittent hair up-do and the sandwich method.
The first involves putting her hair in a bun or a ponytail whenever she feels the urge to pull and taking her hair down if the urge arises again.
“If I change the way my hair is, it kind of breaks the urge,” she said.
The second, the sandwich method, involves creating two windows of time during the day when she knows she will be unable to pull her hair – for example, putting in a hair mask in the morning and making plans with friends in the evening.
“This is a new one for me, but I’ve found it really helps,” she said.
“The big effort to not pull only has to be concentrated to a few hours in the middle which is a lot more achievable than an entire day.”
Lucia has also started a series of videos on her TikTok titled “hair-pulling affirmations”, which she said seems to help a lot of people.
Some of her affirmations include “I can go pull-free multiple times in my life”, “anytime you don’t pull your hair, that is progress”, and “I am mindful of my habit”.
“I feel like trichotillomania is something people find embarrassing or weird or your hair doesn’t look as nice – the distress that comes with it is not only the pulling but also the shame and the guilt,” she said.
“The affirmations are a way to make sure people aren’t beating themselves up too much.”
Lucia also said a tracking app named Days Since “worked wonders” to help her achieve her eight-month break.
“I restart it every time I pull my hair and at the beginning, it’s a bit frustrating but after a day or two you feel this boost of motivation because you get so far and you don’t want to mess it up,” she said.
Keeping your hands busy is another hack Lucia has seen being shared online.
“Personally for me, it hasn’t worked too well but I know it does help a lot of people and can be super effective,” she said.
“I think some people recommend using a hair tie or something that resembles hair, people say hair extensions for example,” she said.
“Another good one I’m due to try is crocheting, people say that’s a big help as a lot of my triggers, as a lot of people’s triggers is being at home, watching TV and not doing much with your hands.
“People are using that as a distraction as obviously, you need both hands.”
After sharing her methods on TikTok, millions have flocked to her profile.The most-watched video on her page is a nine-second clip of Lucia sitting on her sofa and twisting her hair with a title reading: “POV: You’re watching TV with me” – which amassed 15.6 million views.
Her second most-watched video, with 6.4 million views, shows Lucia going about her daily life with trichotillomania – showing her hand in the shower containing a clump of hair, as well as doing the laundry and watching TV while twisting her hair.
“It’s really rewarding and I’m so happy to see it,” she said.
Lucia said she has also received lots of direct messages to say they feel “very seen” by her content and her followers will share positive words and tips with each other.
“If I ever have a little ounce of self-doubt about sharing this, I see those comments and it makes it so worth it,” she said.
