Can hair grow back after trichotillomania?

Author: Kylie Turner MD  |  Last update: Friday, December 5, 2025

Once you stop pulling your hair, new hair growth can begin. However, it may take several months or even years for the hair to regrow fully. The regrowth may be uneven, and the new hair may have a different texture or colour to the surrounding hair.

How long does it take for hair to grow back after trichotillomania?

It can take a lonnngg time for a damaged follicle to repair itself however, so don't be disheartened. My regrowth can sometimes takes 3-4 months to come in properly, sometimes waayyy longer.

Can trichotillomania cause permanent hair loss?

Constantly pulling out hair can cause scarring, infections and other damage to the skin on your scalp or the area where hair is pulled out. This can permanently affect hair growth.

Can hair regrow after pulling it out?

Yes, plucked hair can regrow. Hair follicles have the ability to regenerate, and plucking a hair removes it from the follicle but doesn't necessarily damage the follicle permanently. However, consistent and aggressive plucking may lead to follicle damage over time.

Can you fully recover from trichotillomania?

Some treatment options have helped many people reduce hair pulling or stop completely. These include therapy and sometimes medicine.

Overcoming Trichotillomania: The Power of Awareness | Aneela Idnani | TEDxFargo

Has anyone cured trichotillomania?

Results. 24.9% of the entire sample of people with lifetime trichotillomania reported that they no longer had symptoms of trichotillomania and had never received therapy or medication treatment for it (i.e. they experienced natural recovery).

Do any celebrities have trichotillomania?

“Don't Look Up” actor Leonardo DiCaprio is believed to have trichotillomania due to openly sharing on multiple accounts of suffering from OCD. Leo has spoken about living with OCD throughout his childhood and adult life.

What is the best hair regrowth for trichotillomania?

Minoxidil foam is a clinically proven treatment for hair loss that can be effective in reversing the effects of trichotillomania. It works by stimulating hair follicles and promoting hair regrowth.

How to tell if hair follicles are dead?

So dead hair follicles can look like a smooth, bald patch of skin or like a scar. A trichologist may be able to get a better view of your follicles by using a microscope or other trichological tools.

Can hair loss from trichotillomania be reversed?

Hair regrowth after trichotillomania-related hair loss is possible, but the process can take time and varies from person to person. The regrowth of hair depends on several factors, including the severity and duration of the hair pulling behaviour, your overall health and any underlying medical conditions.

Does trichotillomania get worse with age?

Children commonly pull their hair in this way, but that behavior is often a self-soothing act. Children often grow out of this behavior and don't have any long-term negative effects. Adolescents, teenagers and adults with this condition tend to have much more severe problems.

What kind of trauma causes trichotillomania?

Recently, a strong relationship of family chaos during childhood and trichotillomania has also been reported, in which 86% of women with trichotillomania reported a history of violence—for example, sexual assault or rape—concurrent with the onset of trichotillomania.

Will hair stop growing if plucked enough?

Waxing and plucking can damage the hair follicles, causing new hair growth to be slower and thinner over time. These methods are not considered permanent hair growth, though.

Will my eyebrows grow back after trichotillomania?

Eventually, your eyebrows will grow back. It just might take a little while for your hair follicles to recover and start producing hair. However, if your eyebrow plucking is sustained, it can cause permanent hair loss similar to that caused by trichotillomania [3]. Find out more about the causes of eyebrow hair loss.

How do I get rid of trichotillomania permanently?

Treating trichotillomania

Treatment usually involves: keeping a diary of your hair pulling. working out the triggers for your hair pulling and learning how to avoid them. replacing hair pulling with another action, like squeezing a stress ball.

Is it possible to reactivate dead hair follicles?

Fully destroyed hair follicles cannot usually come back to life without surgical intervention, such as a hair transplant. However, you can revive damaged or dormant hair follicles. Only when the follicles are extremely, deeply damaged does it become irreversible.

How to tell if hair is regrowing?

  1. What Does New Hair Growth Look Like? Understanding the signs of new hair growth is crucial for anyone concerned with hair health, whether dealing with hair thinning or loss. ...
  2. Texture Changes. ...
  3. Increased Volume. ...
  4. Darkening Of Hair Follicles. ...
  5. Growth At The Hairline. ...
  6. Itchy Scalp. ...
  7. Shiny, Strong Strands. ...
  8. Rate Of Shedding.

How to awaken dormant hair follicles?

Here's how to reactivate hair follicles and get your hair growing again.
  1. Finasteride. ...
  2. Minoxidil. ...
  3. Scalp Massage. ...
  4. Essential Oils. ...
  5. Hair Products for Hair Regrowth. ...
  6. Microneedling. ...
  7. Corticosteroid Injections. ...
  8. Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy.

What worsens trichotillomania?

Adults with trichotillomania frequently report that their pulling worsens during periods of heightened anxiety [9]. Alternatively, hair pulling for many adults leads to avoidance of social activities and results in anxiety during intimate situations [6], [10], [11].

What vitamins help with trichotillomania?

Furthermore, evidence to date has suggested that dietary changes (e.g., eating a gluten free diet or increasing vitamin D and B12) may play a role in reducing the symptoms of Tourette's and obsessive compulsive disorder, disorders with some phenomenological and possibly genetic relationship to trichotillomania and skin ...

Does Vaseline help with trichotillomania?

In young children, treat trichotillomania as a short-term habit disorder by cutting the hair very short (like a crew cut in boys) and applying Vaseline to the hair. “They stop their habit right away because it's so slippery they can't pull,” Dr. Kwong said.

Did Megan Fox have trichotillomania?

In fact, about five percent of the U.S. population suffers from TRICH. There are even some very well-known people who have revealed that they have Trichotillomania, including Olivia Munn, Megan Fox, Charlize Theron, Katy Perry, Victoria Beckham, and Justin Timberlake!

Did Amy Schumer really have trichotillomania?

Schumer picked out enough of her hair that she had to wear a bad wig to school, "and everybody knew" it was a wig, she said. Her trichotillomania has continued through adulthood, Schumer said. "It's not that I used to have this problem and now I don't," she said, "it's still something that I struggle with."

What not to say to someone with trichotillomania?

Don't say, “You need to learn to relax, and maybe the pulling will stop automatically.” Usually, this isn't true. My clients with trich have hairpulling on their mind constantly (which can be mentally exhausting) and have uncontrollable urges to pull.

Previous article
Is wearing a weighted vest considered strength training?
Next article
Why are some of my hairs weirdly textured?