Microblading helped me stop pulling

Hello! I have struggled and adapted my life because of trichotillomania and it's effects since I was a little girl. I'm 30 years old now. A few years ago, I came to terms with the fact that I just would never go swimming or let someone else see me without makeup. For a long time, that made me incredibly unhappy. Eventually I just gave up on trying to stop pulling. I gave up on even the thought of just trying to stop for a day. What I wanted was something that helped me get into the water with friends. Recently I caught wind of this new microblading craze that's starting to take off and I looked into it. For those who don't know - it's a process done by a certified professional to create hair like strokes using a needle and semi-permanent pigment - sort of like a natural looking makeup tattoo for your face. I decided to set aside some money to have my eyebrows microbladed so that I wouldn't have to continue my routine of struggling to pencil them in and make them look symmetrical and somewhat "natural". I thought this might get me a little closer to being brave enough to jump in the lake in summer time. Now in all honesty, what I got was a rather jarring result at first and the healing process took a few weeks and was super awkward. But I had bangs trimmed to hide the brows while they healed and while I got used to the new look. Something else amazing happened and I am beyond thrilled... I stopped pulling my eyebrows and I haven't since July when I had them microbladed. I think that because of the cost to get this procedure done and because you're absolutely not allowed to touch your brows while they're healing - I stopped pulling them and even stopped touching them! Something with the consequences of touching them (germy/possibility of infection) or pulling (ruining the look and removing the pigment that cost me a few hundred dollars) was enough to keep my hands away from my face. Pulling has ceased after I had been pulling them completely out for 13 years. I just wanted to share this as a possibility to help others, because for so long I thought there wasn't a possibility for me... You can also get your eyelids microbladed and it takes like 20 minutes - it's semi-permanent eyeliner. I have thought about having eyeliner microbladed too so that the urge to pull or touch my eyelashes won't be as strong. Part of me thinks that my brain has and body allowed me to stop pulling my eyebrows so that I won't have wasted all of that money. Money is a strong influence for me I guess. I remind myself every day that "you don't touch your eyebrows anymore except when you wash your face. Then only your washcloth touches them." It's working for now, but I haven't forgotten how strong this urge can be and even when I have stopped for a little while before, I've relapsed. It's too early to assume this is a "cure" but it's helped. And even if/when I have the urge and pull again... I'll have that semi-permanent makeup there and my morning routines will continue to be easier. I really hope this helps at least one person. <3

So great to hear a nice success story! Thank you for sharing!