Clarkie’s story started with her eyelashes
I’m really quite lucky. I have trich (self-diagnosed, I pull my hair and I eat it, basically), but I have both my parents, food to eat, a roof over my head. Nothing horrible has ever happened to me.
I’m out going, self-centered, a little wacky. I’m basically just a teenaged girl. But, sometime this spring, starting in March, I think, I started to pull out my eye-lashes.
It started when I discovered that, by pulling at my eyelashes, I could get any loose ones, and, so, avoid getting them in my eyes. Well, I started to pull harder. It got so I had the thinnest eyelashes you’d ever seen.
Then I started plucking hairs from my scalp and eyebrows. I would take medium sized pieces of hair and pull them out. Then I’d eat them. My parting started to get bigger and bigger. Then, as my hair started to grow back, I had fluff in my parting. It stood straight up. And when I bent over, you could still see where the hair was thin, at the top of my head.
I am 14 years old. Almost 15. I’ve had trich for less than a year. I’m really not your average Trichster. I’m out-going, self-centered, loud. I’m not at all shy. Not really even about my trich. I don’t know what causes it. I don’t know what my ‘problem’ is. If only I knew WHY I could solve it. But I don’t know why.
I am lucky. My trich is only mild. I’ll probably never pluck myself bald. And, even if I did, I have very supportive friends and family. If you or someone you love pulls, please, find out about trich. Even if they can’t stop, knowing you care will make their life that much easier.
Love, Clarkie