Does Hair Grow Back After Trichotillomania?

If you pull your hair, you’ve probably stared at a patch, a thin brow or a bare lash line and wondered whether it will ever come back. That worry is one of the hardest parts of living with trichotillomania (trich), a condition where people feel strong urges to pull out their own hair and find it very hard to stop. It affects about 1 in 50 people.

Here’s the reassuring part: for most people, hair does grow back after trichotillomania. This guide explains how long regrowth takes on the scalp, brows and lashes, why it can feel so slow, when damage can last, and what gives your hair the best chance.

Does hair grow back after trichotillomania?

Yes, in most cases. When a hair is pulled out, the follicle it came from usually stays in the skin and goes on to make a new hair. Doctors describe trich as causing a “non-scarring” type of hair loss, which means the follicles are normally still there and able to regrow.

Doctors who examine areas of pulling often see hairs of many different lengths. That’s a sign that follicles keep restarting, even while pulling carries on. The main thing that stands between you and regrowth is the pulling itself. Each time a hair is pulled, that follicle starts its wait again.

This matters because fear of permanent damage can feed the pulling. Some people feel so hopeless about a patch that they pull more. Knowing that regrowth is the usual outcome can make it easier to protect the hair that’s coming through.

How long does it take for scalp, eyebrows and eyelashes to grow back?

It depends on where you pull. Scalp hair grows the fastest and shows first, often within weeks. Eyebrows usually take two to three months to show new hairs, and eyelashes take a few months. Getting back to full length takes longer, especially for long scalp hair.

	Scalp	Eyebrows	Eyelashes
How fast it grows	About 1 cm a month	Brows grow for only 2 to 4 weeks at a time, which keeps them short	About 0.12 to 0.14 mm a day
How much is resting at any one time	About 10 to 15% of hairs	About 90% of hairs	Each lash grows for 4 to 10 weeks within a cycle of 4 to 11 months
When new hairs usually show	Often within weeks, as short stubble	Give it at least 2 to 3 months	Pulled lashes may take a few months
Worth seeing a doctor if	A patch shows no new hair after about six months, or the skin looks scarred	Little has changed after about four months	The eye or eyelid is red, sore or swollen, or lashes are falling out without pulling

Scalp hair, brows and lashes each grow at their own pace, so they come back on different timescales.

The scalp

Scalp hair grows about 0.35 mm a day, which works out at roughly 1 cm a month. Once a follicle restarts, you may feel short, soft stubble within a few weeks. Here’s roughly what to expect for a scalp patch:

Time since you stopped pulling a patch	What you might notice
The first few weeks	Short stubble at some follicles. Others are still resting and haven’t started yet.
2 to 6 months	New hairs are a few centimetres long, and the patch starts to fill in and blend with the hair around it.
About a year	Around 15 cm of new growth. That fills in short and mid-length styles, but hair that was shoulder-length or longer takes more time to match.

Not every follicle restarts at the same time, so a patch often fills in unevenly at first.

Eyebrows

Brows are slower. A dermatologist at Cleveland Clinic advises giving overplucked brows at least two to three months, since their growth cycle lasts three to four months. The reason is that around 90% of brow hairs are resting at any moment, and the resting phase lasts two to three months.

Our guide to pulling out your eyebrows covers brow regrowth and what helps you stop.

Eyelashes

Lashes grow slowly, at around a tenth of a millimetre a day. Each lash grows for four to ten weeks, and its whole life cycle, including rest, runs from four to eleven months. Pulled lashes may take a few months to grow back.

Our guide to pulling out your eyelashes explains more about lash pulling and regrowth.

Why does regrowth take so long?

Because each follicle works in a cycle, and a new hair only appears when the follicle is ready. Every hair on your body goes through three main phases:

Growing (anagen). The follicle makes hair. On the scalp this phase lasts from 2 to 8 years, which is why scalp hair can grow long. On the brows it lasts only 2 to 4 weeks.
Winding down (catagen). A short phase of a few weeks where growth stops.
Resting (telogen). The follicle takes a break before starting a new hair. Only 10 to 15% of scalp hairs are resting at any time, but around 90% of brow hairs are.

Every follicle grows, rests and starts again. After a hair is pulled, the follicle needs time before a new one shows.

This explains why brows and lashes feel so slow. With most brow follicles resting at any one time, new hairs trickle through over months rather than all at once.

It also explains why regrowth can be a tricky stage. New hairs come through short and stubbly. For many people who pull, that’s exactly the kind of hair they search for. Having your barriers and fidgets ready before the regrowth arrives can protect it.

Can pulling cause permanent hair loss?

It can, but it isn’t the usual outcome, and it tends to happen only after many years. With repeated pulling from the same spot over a long time, the follicles can become damaged and the skin can scar. Once a follicle is scarred, it may no longer make hair. Doctors mainly see this in people who have pulled from the same areas well into adulthood.

The things that raise the risk are:

Years of pulling from the same spot, rather than pulling that moves around.
Heavy, frequent pulling. A Cleveland Clinic dermatologist warns that plucking brows every day can damage them and may cause scarring.
Damage to the skin itself, such as irritation, soreness or broken skin where you pull.

Even then, lasting loss is a possibility, not a certainty. Some spots grow back thinner, some grow back fully, and a few may not grow back. You usually can’t tell which is which without giving a spot time. If you’re worried about a particular area, a dermatologist (a skin and hair doctor) can check it. Where there’s no scarring, regrowth can still happen.

If some hair loss does last, you still have good options. Our guide to covering bald spots from hair pulling goes through hairstyles, fibres and toppers. Our guide to eyebrow and eyelash makeup, microblading and false lashes covers brows and lashes. Our guide to wigs and hair systems for trichotillomania explains how a wig can also act as a barrier.

What helps hair grow back after trichotillomania?

Pulling less is the single biggest thing you can do. The American Academy of Dermatology is clear that hair can only regrow if you stop pulling it. Everything else plays a smaller part.

Work on the pulling

Habit Reversal Training (HRT) is a behavioural therapy that teaches you to notice when you’re about to pull and to do something else with your hands instead. The UK’s NHS describes it as the usual treatment for trich. In a 2014 review of 11 trials, behaviour therapy for trich led to large improvements, and trials with more therapy time tended to show bigger effects.

You can start on your own, too. Our guide to how to stop pulling your hair has a two-minute plan for when an urge hits. Our guide to Habit Reversal Training explains each step.

Protect the regrowth

Plan for the stubbly stage. Wear thin cotton gloves, a soft hat or a headscarf during your riskiest times, like screen time or lying in bed.
Keep your hands busy. A textured fidget or a smooth stone gives your fingers something to do when they go looking for a hair.
Put the magnifying mirror away. Close-up checking of brows and lashes can easily turn into plucking.
Keep tweezers hard to reach, in another room or with someone you trust.
Stop checking the patch. Inspecting it to see how it’s doing often turns into touching, then pulling.

Be kind to yourself

Shame after a pulling session is one of the strongest triggers for the next one. If you pull a new hair, it isn’t a disaster. That follicle will try again. Note what happened, change one small thing, and carry on.

Treatments that act on the hair

Some people ask a doctor about treatments that act on the hair itself. These have mostly been studied in other kinds of hair loss rather than in trich, so the evidence for trich is thin.

Minoxidil is a lotion or foam used to help hair grow in some types of hair loss. It needs to be used for at least four months, and sometimes up to a year, before you see any effect. Most new hair is lost within a few months of stopping, and it can irritate the scalp.
Bimatoprost is a prescription liquid approved in the US for growing thin eyelashes. It can cause red or itchy eyes, darken the skin around the eyes, and slowly darken the coloured part of the eye.

Both need advice from a doctor or pharmacist before you try them, especially near the eyes. No treatment will keep hair coming back if pulling continues, so they work best, if at all, alongside support for the pulling.

When should I get help?

See a doctor if a patch hasn’t started to fill in after several months of little or no pulling, if hair is thinning in places you don’t pull, or if the skin where you pull looks sore, scarred or infected. Hair loss has other causes, including alopecia areata, an immune condition that causes patchy hair loss, so it’s worth having it checked.

Our guide to trichotillomania and alopecia explains how doctors tell them apart.

For the pulling itself, get support if it upsets you, takes up your time or affects your life, or if you’ve tried to stop and can’t. Many doctors and therapists have never worked with someone who pulls. Everyone in our directory has told us they understand trichotillomania and already help people who pull, in person or online. You can search the directory. Our guide to finding someone who understands trich explains what to ask on a first call.

If you’re a parent reading this for your child, start with The Parent’s Guide to Trichotillomania: understanding what your child is going through.

For a full picture of the condition, see our complete guide to trichotillomania.

If you’re feeling very low or hopeless, please talk to someone today.

In an emergency, call 911 or go to your nearest emergency department.

988 Suicide Crisis Helpline — 988 (988.ca)

Questions people ask

Will the bald spot from pulling ever fill in completely?

Usually, yes, if the follicles in that spot are still healthy. Short hairs tend to appear first, and the patch blends in as they lengthen at about 1 cm a month. How long that takes depends on how long the hair around it is. If a patch stays bare for many months, ask a doctor to check the skin.

How can I tell if my hair is growing back?

Look and feel for short, soft stubble or hairs of different lengths in the area you’ve been pulling from. Doctors see these mixed lengths as a sign that follicles are regrowing. Try not to check too often, though. Close inspection can turn into touching and pulling, so a quick look once a week is plenty.

Can I still pull if my hair is only just growing back?

You can, and many people find short new hairs tempting because of their texture. Pulling a new hair restarts the wait for that follicle. Plan for this stage with barriers such as thin cotton gloves or a hat during your risky times, and something to keep your hands busy.

Do hair growth supplements or special shampoos help after trichotillomania?

We couldn’t find good research showing that supplements or shampoos speed up regrowth after pulling. For lashes, one medically reviewed guide notes there’s no scientific evidence that home remedies help them grow back. Reducing pulling does more for regrowth than any product. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist before trying supplements.

Will my child’s hair grow back?

In most cases, yes. Children’s follicles regrow in the same way, and pulling in toddlers and very young children often stops on its own. Calm support works far better than telling a child off, which tends to add shame. If a patch doesn’t fill in, or you’re unsure what’s causing the hair loss, see a doctor.

Can a doctor tell if my hair loss is permanent?

A doctor can look closely at the skin where you pull to check for scarring around the follicles. Where there’s no scarring, regrowth can still happen. A dermatologist, a doctor who deals with skin and hair, is a good person to ask if you’re worried about a particular spot that isn’t filling in.

Is it too late for my hair to grow back if I’ve pulled for years?

Not necessarily. Lasting damage tends to build up over years of pulling from the same spot, and wherever the skin isn’t scarred, regrowth can still happen. Some spots may grow back thinner or not at all, but you can’t tell until you give them time. Reducing pulling now protects the follicles you have.