Is Picking Your Eyebrows Bad?

Studies show that almost everyone picks or pulls at their hair and skin every once in a while. But since most people don’t talk about it, people often wonder if their picking behavior is normal. Or if it’s bad to pick at certain body parts, such as the eyebrows.

So is picking your eyebrows bad? Picking your eyebrows isn’t bad in and of itself. If done in moderation, it’s probably nothing to worry about. But if you pull out too much eyebrow hair or it’s a compulsion you can’t stop, there can be serious consequences to picking or pulling eyebrow hairs out.

Consequences of Picking Your Eyebrows

Picking a few eyebrow hairs out now and then won’t have any long term consequences. They will grow back in two to four months and all will be well again.

However, if you are picking large patches of hairs out of your eyebrows, this can pose many problems.

First, there are cosmetic issues with this. Your eyebrows will not look normal and will stand out. You can potentially cover this up with makeup, such as eyebrow pencils. But many people, especially girls and women, who pick large patches of their eyebrows out experience feelings of shame, embarrassment, or loss of self-esteem due to the physical changes to their eyebrows.

Over time, this can affect your mental health, leading to anxiety or depression. So overall, you will have a lower quality of life.

In addition to the short term effects of picking hairs from your eyebrows, long term picking can cause permanent hair loss. This usually takes many years of picking, so don’t freak out too much. But pulling out hairs over and over again can cause scarring in the hair follicle, making it no longer able to grow hair.

Because of this, some people who are long-term hair pullers find that they have bald patches that don’t go away.

An additional consequence of pulling eyebrow hair comes with what you do with it. About 20% of people who compulsively pull their hair also have a compulsion to eat that hair. This can cause “hair balls” in the gastrointestinal system that can cause health problems or require surgery.

Is Picking Eyebrows Normal?

Everyone pulls or picks their hairs, skin, or nails from time to time. But most people are able to stop picking or pulling when they put their mind to it.

A small minority of the population, about 1 to 3% of people, have a condition called Trichotillomania or hair-pulling disorder. You may have this disorder if you have tried to stop pulling hairs out in the past, but have not been able to successfully stop and this habit is causing a lot of problems in your life.

Most people with this disorder are women and the most common places they pull hair from are the scalp, pubic area, and face, including eyebrows.

People who have this disorder tend to feel a lot of shame around their behavior and avoid social situations due to feelings of embarrassment. It can be a very lonely, isolating experience.

What Causes Picking Hair from Eyebrows?

There are many reasons people pick or pull hair from their eyebrows. A major reason is that it’s a form of self-soothing and helps with emotional regulation.

When you are stressed, anxious, depressed, bored, or otherwise just not content with life, you need ways to regulate your emotions and get into a place of homeostasis again.

Grooming behaviors calm the nervous system, so it makes sense that a lot of people find themselves compulsively picking, pulling, or biting their hair to help regulate emotions and the nervous system.

Another aspect of picking hair is habit. After you have performed an action over and over again, it can just become ingrained into your nervous system and hard to stop doing.

If you have a hair pulling disorder, it’s likely that you have other psychological disorders such as OCD or PTSD that may be an underlying cause. It’s also possible that you simply inherited a genetic predisposition to pick or pull hair.

No matter the cause, your nervous system is plastic. That means it can change with experience and time and there are lots of tactics and therapies that can help you stop picking hair from eyebrows.

How to Stop Picking Your Eyebrows

Research shows that one of the most effective methods for treating compulsive hair picking and pulling is cognitive behavioral therapy. This is best done under the direction of a mental health professional trained in cognitive behavioral therapy or habit reversal therapy.

But you can also try some of these techniques on your own if treatment isn’t an option for you:

Become Aware

Keep a diary of your eyebrow picking. Note when and where you are most likely to pick your eyebrows and any triggers you notice, including lack of sleep, feelings, people, or medications.

Reduce Triggers

Once you understand your triggers, it’s time to make a plan to reduce them. This can be as simple as avoiding caffeine and getting more sleep or as complicated as learning how to manage difficult emotions that trigger your behavior.

Replace Eyebrow Picking

Another tactic for to stop picking eyebrows is to replace that behavior with less problematic behaviors. Many people find success by keeping their hands busy with a squeeze ball or fidget toy.

Seek Emotional Support

Stopping a hair pulling habit can be a huge obstacle and it’s best to have lots of support along the way. Reach out to friends and family for encouragement. If you care not comfortable talking to your friends or family about your hair pulling, seek out others online who know what you are going through.

Say No to Shame

Work on letting go of any feelings of shame you have over your behaviors. You should also give yourself tons of self-compassion and praise any and all effort you put toward overcoming this habit. The better you feel about yourself, the better your emotional state will be and the easier it will be to change your behavior.

Talk to Your Doctor

If you continue to struggle with picking your eyebrows, despite motivation to quit, you should talk to your doctor. Although cognitive behavioral therapy is a first-line treatment, this doesn’t always work for everyone. There are medications and other therapies you may want to try at that point.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in doses of 1200 mg twice a day has been shown in studies to reduce compulsive hair pulling in adults.

There are a few other medications that have shown promise in studies as well, including clomipramine, olanzapine, and dronabino.

In addition, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and exposure therapy are other therapies that have successfully treated trichotillomania in some people.

10 Quick Tips for Stopping Eyebrow Picking and Pulling

Practice deep breathing. When you feel the urge to pick, breathe out slowly until all the air leaves your lungs, then continue to focus on your breath until the urge to pick or pull hairs goes away.

Put bandages on your fingertips. This makes it harder and less satisfying to pull out hairs.

Keep lotion with you at all times. When you feel like picking, use that energy to apply lotion carefully to your fingertips. This will keep your hands busy and make your fingers too slippery for picking out eyebrows.

Put essential oil or perfume on your fingertips. The scent can help bring awareness to your picking when you begin to do it automatically.

Oil your eyebrows. Use coconut or olive oil and rub them into your eyebrows throughout the day. This will keep eyebrows slick so you can’t grab them.

Try bilateral stimulation. Pat your arms, shoulders, or face using your palms or fingertips. Alternate the movement so that you are only patting one side at a time. This lowers your fight or flight response and helps with anxiety. It also gives you a source of stimulation that you may be craving when you have an urge to pick. This video shows an example of this technique:

Wear gloves. Figure out the times you are most likely to pick and put on gloves during those times so you won’t be picking without knowing what’s going on.

Doodle. If your picking happens during lectures or in school, doodling can help you keep your hands busy without bringing attention to yourself.

Wear Make-up. Watch makeup tutorials online and get really excited about having pretty eyebrows. Then start going all out on your eyebrows. The thought of ruining your all the effort you put into your eyebrows or smudging your makeup may help you stop picking at them.

Use a fidget or sensory toy. Amazon has endless versions of fidget toys to choose from (click to see the most popular). You can also try sensory items like kinetic sand, play foam, or silly putty. These items reduce anxiety and keep your hands busy so you’re less likely to pick at your eyebrows.