Hair removed from teen’s stomach

As the girls had psychiatric problems she had the habit of eating her own hair. As a result she often suffered from pain and intake gradually came down over the years.

Slowly, the girl was unable to consume food and began to experience weight loss too. She refused to eat as she was said to have extreme appetite loss for ten days before she was brought to the centre. Experts at Sri Ramachandra Medical Centre had an endoscopy performed on her. 

The doctors confirmed presence of hair in the stomach and she was advised to undergo an emergency surgery. Dr Prakash Agarwal, HOD, Paediatric Surgery, Sri Ramachandra University and Hospitals, headed by a team of paediatric surgeons performed the procedure and successfully removed a big ball of hair from her stomach. 

“The hair had occupied almost 250 ml of the available space and she could partake just 50 ml of water or food. Dr Agarwal said that eating one’s own hair was a common condition among those with psychiatric problems. 

“Over the years this can lead to formation of a big mass or tuft of hair inside the stomach (Trichobezoar) causing problems necessitating surgical removal,” he said. He added that cutting or tonsuring the hair and proper medication from a psychiatrist can help. “The child is recovering well and will be discharged soon”, said the doctor.