Nine years ago, when Rose Sweet was barely 14 years old, she was diagnosed with trichotillomania. This medical condition found her tugging at and pulling out strands, and complete chunks of the hair on her head.
The condition first began when Sweet watched her parents get divorced. The stress and anxiety of her family life led her to seek solace and relief – by pulling out her hair.
"I would spend hours searching for the right hair to pull and while I was pulling, I felt safe, like I had a security blanket around me," Sweet explained. But the condition quickly spiraled out of control.
“I would not eat or stop until I had pulled the right hair. It had to be thick and frizzy and have a big root on the end," she admitted. "I would pull multiple hairs at a time and cause my scalp to bleed, which I would then pick at to keep the scab going."
Sweet’s problem quickly, and often, manifested itself through large bald spots on her head. She tried her best to hide her condition by wearing her hair in particular ways or using headbands.
Even with her long-term-boyfriend-now-husband, Josh, Sweet took years to come clean to him. "If he ever noticed any bald patches, I told him my hair was falling out on its own, and hid that I was pulling it out myself,” she said.
As of late, Sweet has managed to overcome and beat her trichotillomania – but her bald spots lingered.
Although Josh reassured her that he thought she was beautiful “with or without hair,” Sweet was desperate to restore her hair before their marriage.
It took her several rejected treatment requests and doctors before she was finally able to find a specialist willing to see her for her bald patches.
The doctor suggested that he give Sweet an Interlace device, a breathable mesh design that was covered with hair and masked bald patches. The device was also immune to hair pulling.
Sweet says she has to go to follow-up appointments “a couple times a year,” but thinks that the procedure is “worth every single penny.” She hasn’t been happier or more confident in a long time.
