Help For Your Child With A Compulsive Hair Pulling Habit .

As the parent of a child with a compulsive hair pulling habit, if you find your child is not only hair pulling, but also ingesting it, you should take her to a doctor immediately. Eating hair is a disorder called Trichophagia and is common for children who also suffer from compulsive hair pulling.

Hair is indigestible. Overtime, when enough hair is consumed it forms a hairball in the digestive system, most often in the stomach. The trichobezoar, as the hairball is referred to medically, usually requires surgery to remove as the habit typically goes unnoticed until symptoms begin to occur. Such symptoms may include abdominal pain, nausea and sometimes blood and/or visible hairs in the stool. Trichobezoars can also be the cause of foul breath, poor appetite, diarrhea or constipation, and bowel obstructions or perforations. There have been cases where this hairball has been the size of an egg. If left untreated, and allowed to grow even larger, a trichobezoar could be fatal.

Trichobezoars are usually diagnosed using specialized upper gastrointestinal X-rays, by ultrasound or using an endoscope. Sometimes a physician can feel a trichobezoar by pushing gently the mid or upper left area of the abdomen.

Compulsive hair pulling in children, if left undiagnosed or treated, can lead to a difficult life for the child. Having to live with and cope with Trichotillomania through her teen years and into adulthood is known to be traumatic. Getting help early on for your child with Trichotillomania can literally make a world of difference to your child’s life.