Shampoo Critique

Although it is said that approximately 1% of the general population suffers from the affliction, I’ve never knowingly met anyone besides her who does.

Trichotillomania, that is. My 15 year old daughter suffers from it. Briefly, ’trich’ a psych condition in which those afflicted have an almost uncontrollable urge to pluck their own hair. It’s been described as an ‘impulse control disorder,’ and as being distantly related to obsessive-compulsive disorder.

It started when she was 10. A behavior modification program and medication didn’t really do much to stop the strange behavior, but at least helped us come to terms with it. Poor kid. She trys hard, but the urges are strong. Last year saw an improvement. I’m not sure whether it was that she was more concerned about her appearance, or maybe it’s peer pressure, or maybe the ‘squeeze balls’ I bought for her to fidget with in class really do help her to stop.

Also, in September '06 it occured to me that if she had long fingernails it would be more difficult for her to pluck as much hair out, so since then she’s (willingly) sported long manicured nails.

And then there’s the shampoo...One of our on-line friends whom we know from an Asperger’s Syndrome forum (Amy has also been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome- a mild form of autism) shared with us that she was- like Amy- afflicted with trichotillomania, and she recommended a certain type of shampoo and conditioner - a treatment that she swore helped her beat the problem.

Although the particular hair products that she recommended are manufactured for Loreal they’re actually made in Spain, and and have only recently become available in the US. The line of hair products is called Kerastase, and it took us months to track down a salon that sells them.

We finally found a vendor located in the Old Port section of Portland, ME, and made an expedition there to buy some. That was in December '06. The stuff is expensive, about 10X the price one would pay for a bottle of economy shampoo or conditioner. We bought 2 bottles of shampoo, and 2 of conditioner.

Amy loved it. I decided to try it myself. It is, without a doubt the finest shampoo and conditioner I have EVER used. We go back to Portland now & then just to stock up. Cost be damned.