Louise Damiano-Gavigan has trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder characterized by uncontrollable hair-pulling.
WASHINGTON TWP. -- Thirteen years ago, Louise Damiano-Gavigan's New York jewelry business began struggling. As the stress mounted, she developed a strange habit she'd never had before: pulling her hair.
But pulling her hair wasn't the problem. Damiano-Gavigan's real problem was that once she started, she couldn't stop. She would hunt for a gray hair, or a hair that was thicker than usual, and pull.
"So here I am newly married, and I have basically no job and no direction. It was a sort of stress release," said Damiano-Gavigan, now 43.
Damiano-Gavigan has trichotillomania, an impulse control disorder characterized by a patient's compulsive pulling of their own hair. People with trichotillomania may pull hair anywhere on their bodies. The scalp, eyebrows and even eyelashes are some of the most common targets. The disorder occurs in people of all ages -- one estimate states that up to 4 percent of the general population has trichotillomania -- but in Damiano-Gavigan's case, it was stress and depression that triggered the pulling.
It wasn't until five years ago that she began seeking treatment. Damiano-Gavigan's husband, Frank Gavigan, began researching trichotillomania, and together, they began habit reversal therapy.
"I'd tell her wear mittens, or wear a baseball cap," Gavigan said. "It was frustrating. It's not easy to sit there and watch, but you'd know if you'd say anything, she would explode. I would have to leave the room."
The more they learned, the better they knew how to handle the situation.
"I learned to say it the right way, and she learned to hear me," Gavigan said.
Meanwhile, Damiano-Gavigan began looking for ways to preserve her hair. She had developed bald spots on her scalp from the constant pulling. Hair extensions didn't really address the problem, and one device -- a sort of integrated wig -- actually harmed her hair.
"It was heavy, very visible and painful," said Damiano-Gavigan. "I have scars now where hair won't grow."
In November, she found something that worked: a 3D-printed prosthesis that was custom made for her scalp. Damiano-Gavigan went in for a consultation at the Wall Township-based Transitions Hair Solutions, where owner Danielle Grillo helped outfit her with the piece.
"The 'scalp' is made of a breathable, antibacterial, anti-fungal polymer," said Grillo. "It fits better than a normal piece because it sits flush on your head. If you ran your hand over the person's head you wouldn't feel it."
A factory in Italy printed out the piece, then injected it with thousands of individual human hairs. The makers imitated the natural grain, color and texture of Damiano-Gavigan's hair. Now, her natural hair is allowed to grow back beneath the prosthesis. It is attached to Damiano-Gavigan's head with a special adhesive. She can shower and even play sports with the prosthesis in place.
Grillo says the piece is useful for burn victims and people with alopecia as well as those with trichotillomania. Because it is not the wearer's real hair, she said, most people do not bother to pull on it once it is in place.
"Peope with trichotillomania don't generally pull on a prosthetic. When they go to pull, a lot of times they have to feel the tension. They don't feel it with the prosthetic," she said.
The prosthetic is not a cure-all, however, which Damiano-Gavigan readily admits. The piece cost about $5,000, for one thing, and that's for a smaller prosthesis that only covers the crown of her head. She has to go in for a monthly appointment, when the piece is cleaned and re-attached to her head. However, she notes, it allows her to live a normal life.
"It's a confidence thing," she said. "As a woman, I didn't feel complete."
In general, she added, people with trichotillomania (sometimes called simply "trich") stay silent.
"It's hidden, because there's a lot of shame attached to it. People hide. I know I isolated myself a lot."
Damiano-Gavigan is still working to find a way to stop pulling.
"If I'm tired or stressed, all bets are off," she said. But she finds that meditation and yoga alleviate the urge to pull, and is still exploring other options.
"It's something that's always with you," she said. "I had dealt with depression before, and I still do. There are multiple issues that come with this. But now my hair can grow, which is something that didn't happen with other treatments."
She also had a message for other people dealing with trichotillomania.
"You're not alone."
Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.