Trichotillomania: Will my eyelashes grow back?

Trichotillomania: will my eye lashes grow back? If you are suffering from trichotillomania, otherwise known as the compulsive urge to pull out body hair (including the eyelashes), you are probably wondering if your eyelashes will ever recover from the trauma, but the good news is that they will and as long as you are able to curb your compulsion, given time, your eyelashes will eventually grow back.

Pulling out Eyelashes?

Pulling out eyelashes is one of the symptoms of trichotillomania. Some people pull out hair from the head; others pull their eyebrows bald instead. But whichever hairy part of the body is the target of a trichotillomania sufferer, the hair will usually grown back once the compulsive behavior stops.

How long does it take for eyelashes to grow back?

As a rule, eyelashes take about two months to grow. It is perfectly normal for eyelashes to fall out and grow back again—this is why you might end up with a stray eyelash in your eye at some point. However, shedding eyelashes naturally is very different to the pattern of losing them via trichotillomania behavior patterns. Natural eyelash loss will be invisible because your eyelashes are in a continual cycle of falling out and being replaced by new growth, in much the same way as the hair on your head grows. However, plucking out eyelashes as part of the trichotillomania compulsion is a lot more severe and most sufferers end up with bald eyelids and no eyelashes remaining.

How to stop pulling my eyelashes?

The only way to ensure your eyelashes grow back fully is to stop pulling them out, and the best way for this to happen is to seek professional help for your problem. Trichotillomania is very often related to stress and the condition is closely linked to other anxiety disorders and depression. There is also thought to be a genetic link and if a family member has been diagnosed with the condition, the risk of developing trichotillomania is higher than normal.

Many teenagers develop the symptoms of trichotillomania, but because they are ashamed of their compulsion to pull out hair, the patient will try and hide what they are doing. Obviously this is a lot harder when it affects the eyelashes as there is not much you can do to hide bald eyelids, but if you are willing to accept help, you will eventually be able to reduce your compulsive hair pulling behavior.

It is not uncommon for the symptoms of trichotillomania to come and go according to the level of stress in a patient’s life. When everything is on an even keel, the patient’s eyelashes will grow back and there will be no indication that they have a problem with trichotillomania, but when stress builds back up and the patient becomes depressed, the urge to pull eyelashes will start.

But even if this does happen and you end up pulling eyelashes again because of stress, it is not the end of the world because as soon as you get back on top of things once more, the eyelashes will grow back and soon look as good as new again.