Desperate to stop her two-year-old daughter from compulsively pulling out her own hair, a mother has made the heartbreaking decision to shave off her ‘beautiful blonde curls.’
Believing her daughter Isla has trichotillomania – an impulse control disorder where the sufferer feels compelled to yank out their own hair – housewife Kerry Shearer, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, and her assistant distribution manager husband, Gavin, 35, felt shaving her head was the only solution to save her hair.
Sadly, the drastic measure has done little to curb Isla’s extreme behaviour which also saw her wrap her locks around her fingers as she sucked her thumb.
The toddler, who is still partially bald, is yet to receive an official diagnosis from doctors, simply tugs on her mother’s hair, or pulls it out of hairbrushes instead.
Kerry has also covered Isla’s hair in Vaseline in an attempt to make it too greasy to pull but this has not worked.
‘It was a really difficult decision to shave Isla’s hair. She had beautiful, blonde curls’, said Kerry.
A mother made the heartbreaking decision to shave off her ‘beautiful blonde curls’ to try and stop her two-year-old daughter from compulsively pulling out her own hair. Pictured is Isla at around 12 months old in 2016
Believing their daughter Isla has trichotillomania – an impulse control disorder where the sufferer feels compelled to yank out their own hair – a couple made the heart-breaking decision to chop her hair off. Pictured is Isla in June 2016 after she started to lose her hair
Housewife Kerry Shearer, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, and her assistant distribution manager husband, Gavin, 35, felt shaving her head (pictured) was the only solution
‘Once her hair was no longer there, she started taking mine, or pulling it out of hairbrushes.
‘I’ve tried everything to stop her, but nothing seems to work. I know trichotillomania is often linked to anxiety, but Isla is the happiest child going, so I don’t know what’s causing it’, she said.
Kerry recalled how, when Isla was an infant, she would wrap her hair around her finger as she sucked her thumb.
At first, the family weren’t concerned, thinking that the habit was ‘cute.’
Then, after Kerry uploaded a video of Isla at around a year old to Facebook, a friend commented saying it looked as if the toddler was eating her locks.
‘That worried me. I obviously didn’t want her eating her hair,’ said Kerry, who has two other children – Eva, four and Jack, seven – with Gavin, as well as having Ella, 13 and Joseph, 18, from a previous relationship.
Isla, at 15 months old, with a full head of curls before her mum shaved her hair (left) and just this month (right) after one side of her hair grew back
Isla when she was around 13 months old, in summer 2016. Now the tot, who is yet to receive an official diagnosis from doctors, simply tugs on her mum’s hair, or pulls it out of hairbrushes instead
The hair on the left-hand side of Isla’s head, pictured mid August 2017, has now grown back (left). Isla (right) in January this year after having her head shaved
Kerry has tried everything
It took a lot to do, but I made the difficult decision to shave her head.’
For a while, Isla seemed fine, until she started to pull out Kerry’s hair instead – then, once it began to grow back, yanking out her own locks again.
Now her worried mum has tried everything, from coating Isla’s hair in Vaseline, so it is too greasy to pull at, to encouraging her to play with a blanket or dummy instead.
But so far, nothing has worked.
And, while health visitors agree it is highly possible Isla has trichotillomania, doctors – who have not made a formal diagnosis – still hope this could be a phase she will grow out of.
‘I’m hoping to see a specialist paediatrician,’ explained Kerry.
The hair on the right-hand side of Isla’s head is yet to grow back but the hair on the left-hand side is growing well (left and right)
Left to right; Gavin, Eva, Jack, Isla and mum Kerry, in April 2017. Isla’s worried mum has tried everything, from coating Isla’s hair in Vaseline, so it is too greasy to pull at, to encouraging her to play with a blanket or dummy instead
While health visitors agree it is highly possible Isla has trichotillomania, doctors – who have not made a formal diagnosis – still hope this could be a phase she will grow out of. Left to right; Gavin, Eva, Jack, Isla and mum Kerry
Nothing seems to work
‘Even if Isla does grow out of it, I know it’s linked to stress, so it could come back as she grows up.
‘I want there to be a diagnosis on record, so that help is easily available in later life, if she needs it.’
Kerry with her daughter Isla, in April 2017. Mum Kerry wants to raise awareness about the condition
While Isla’s hair has now grown back on her left side, she’s been left with a bald patch spanning half of her right.
Kerry, who has even been stopped in the street by strangers asking what she’s done to her daughter’s hair, continued: ‘People think I’ve given her a dodgy haircut, as it looks almost alopecia-like.
‘It still looks shaved. There’s nothing on one side for her to pull.
‘I don’t want to distress her, or make her feel bad, so I do sometimes give her some of my hair to play with. I know I shouldn’t, but at least that gives her own hair a chance to grow back.’
Kerry, who has received support from other mums experiencing similar problems, after reaching out on Facebook, is now sharing her story to raise awareness of the condition.
She added: ‘I would love to see more people becoming aware of trichotillomania, as it happens to millions of people around the world.
‘Isla’s siblings know all about it and are supportive, so there’s been that extra education for them, too. But I do worry about bullying once Isla gets to school age.
‘It’d be great for other parents to teach their kids about this condition, so they can understand that, just because someone looks different, it doesn’t mean they’re less of a good person.’
For a while, Isla seemed fine, until she started to pull out Kerry’s hair instead – then, once it began to grow back, yanking out her own locks again. Pictured is Gavin with daughter Eva and son Jack, in April 2017
Kerry’s children Jack, Isla and Eva, late last year. ‘Isla’s siblings know all about it and are supportive, so there’s been that extra education for them, too. But I do worry about bullying once Isla gets to school age’, said Kerry
Kerry with daughters Isla (left), Eva and Ella, and son Jack, around five months ago.’I would love to see more people becoming aware of trichotillomania, as it happens to millions of people around the world’, said Kerry
Kerry’s daughters Ella and Isla, her sons Jack and Joseph, and daughter Eva, in mid August 2017. While Isla’s hair has now grown back on her left side, she’s been left with a bald patch spanning half of her right
Kerry, who has received support from other mums experiencing similar problems, after reaching out on Facebook, is now sharing her story to raise awareness of the condition