Woman secretly consumed own hair for 16 years, doctors remove 2 kg hairball in surgery

Doctors in Bareilly town of Uttar Pradesh successfully removed a two-kilogramme mass of human hair from the stomach of a 21-year-old woman diagnosed with Rapunzel Syndrome, a rare psychological condition. The woman had been ingesting her own hair for 16 years, a condition called trichophagia.

According to the doctors at the district hospital, the hair had filled her stomach and extended into her intestines, making it impossible for her to eat solid food and causing her to vomit liquids. On September 20, a CT scan revealed the hair buildup, also called a trichobezoar.

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"Trichophagia is a chronic psychiatric disorder that involves the repeated ingestion of hair. It’s often linked to trichotillomania, a condition that involves compulsively pulling out one's own hair," said Dr. MP Singh, the surgeon who led the operation, as per aHindustan Times report.

The woman had been suffering from stomach pain for nearly five years, and none of the private doctors could identify the cause despite multiple visits. Her family eventually brought her to the district hospital, where a CT scan showed what appeared to be hair inside her stomach. She was admitted on September 22, and about a week later, doctors performed surgery, successfully removing nearly 2 kgof hair from her stomach.

The family had no idea how such a large amount of hair had accumulated in her stomach. After speaking with the woman, they learned she had been secretly consuming her own hair for the past 16 years. She will now undergo counselling for a few months to stop this behaviour of consuming hair from continuing.

The surgery was successfully completed by a team of doctors, including senior surgeon Dr M P Singh, Dr Anjali Soni, Dr Mugdha Sharma, staff nurse Bhavna, and psychiatrists Dr. Ashish Kumar and Dr Pragya Maheshwari.

(With inputs from agencies)