Daijiworld Media Network- Beijing

Beijing, Aug 17: In a rare medical case, doctors in Wuhan Children’s Hospital removed a massive 2kg hairball from the stomach of a 15-year-old girl who had been eating her own hair for six years.

The teenager, identified as Nini from Henan province, was admitted with severe stomach pain, extreme thinness, and absence of menstruation for six months. Weighing just 35 kg at 1.6 m tall, she was diagnosed with serious anaemia.

Doctors discovered that Nini was suffering from trichophagia, a condition in which patients compulsively eat hair. A scan revealed a giant hairball occupying most of her stomach, which had swollen to nearly twice its normal size.

She underwent surgery, and the hairball, formed from hair and food residue, was successfully removed. Five days later, she was able to eat again and showed steady signs of recovery.

Nini returned for a follow-up and was found to be in good health. She expressed her gratitude to doctors by presenting a bouquet made of sweets. Her mother confirmed that she had started gaining weight.

Doctors have cautioned parents to be alert if children consume non-food objects like hair, stressing that trichophagia requires psychiatric care, dietary adjustments, and medication for effective treatment.