'After my comedy gigs, women shared their hair-pulling stories too'

Jo used to think she was the only person battling with trichotillomania

A comedian who used to make jokes about her hair-pulling condition while performing stand-up has said female audience members regularly disclosed having the disorder too.

Jo from Stoke-on-Trent, who is in her early 40s, used to think she was the only person battling with trichotillomania (TTM) - a condition where a person cannot resist the urge to pull out their hair - but realised how common it was while touring with her comedy show.

She said an integrated hair system has now helped her control the urges but she wanted to let others know that they were not alone.

"I know there were some women who heard [my stand-up] and felt seen... it was really good to think that I was helping people," she said.

Jo, who did not want to give her full name, remembered first pulling out strands of her hair at her grandmother's wake at the age of 11.

"There were a lot of things I didn't really understand at that age, like why people were having cake when my gran had died," she remembered.

Reflecting on the condition following her diagnosis of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) aged 39 and suspected autism, she said she believed she was severely overstimulated as a child and without an outlet for her many thoughts.

This first instance developed into an uncontrollable and devastating urge, which she kept a secret.

"I didn't say anything for the longest time. I didn't want to fully admit it to myself because I was so ashamed."

She described feeling "pain in her body" if she was ever interrupted trying to pull her hair out.

Her mum eventually caught her in the act but subsequent doctor and therapy sessions did not stop the urge continuing throughout her teens and into adulthood.

"People get frustrated and disappointed in you that you can't stop doing it," she said.

"You definitely don't want to do it, but you can't help but do it," she added.

The hair system has covered Jo's thinning areas and, she said, discouraged her from pulling out her natural hair

Jo tried fidget toys, taping her fingers together and wearing a "winge" - a cross between a wig and a fringe.

The "winge" was so unrealistic, that the touring comedian opened up about her condition as part of her stand up routine, which prompted an unexpected reaction from the audience.

"There would be a woman waiting at the end of the bar at every gig I did around the country who would come up to me and say: 'I do that.'"

"That blew my mind."

Jo met more women like herself when she had an integrated hair system fitted, a process of attaching real donor hair to existing hair using mesh and tape, at Specialist Hair Enhancement (SHE) in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.

She said the system not only covered her thinning areas, but discouraged her from pulling her natural hair out.

"It's wonderful," she smiled, "I feel like that 11-year-old girl who never got to do the teenage years with her friends, now has the hair to play with."

She said that after seeing her story, she hoped other women with the condition would be encouraged to not suffer alone.