Surgeons removed this huge human hairball weighing 4.4lbs from a teenager’s stomach.
The bizarre procedure took place when the unnamed 19-year-old was admitted to hospital in the city of Ulan-Ude in southern Russia with severe stomach pains.
According to reports, the young woman was vomiting after meals and struggling with a lack of body strength.
After carrying out a thorough medical examination, doctors discovered a bezoar, a solid mass of indigestible material, that had accumulated in her stomach.
The bezoar had filled up almost all of her stomach, causing immense pain and an ulcer in the intestines, according to reports.
During surgery, doctors removed a huge ball of hair that reportedly measured 50x10x10 centimetres (20x4x4 inches).
Head of the surgical team that operated on the teenager, Bator Dondokov, said: “Things like that can begin with an apparently innocent habit of chewing on your own hair.
“The group of people most at risk are young girls and the swallowed hair remains in the stomach.”
The patient’s mother said her daughter received fantastic treatment at the hospital and is almost back to full health.
People who swallow their own hair are said to have a psychiatric disorder called trichophagia.
The disorder is related to a slightly more common condition where people have an irresistible urge to pull out their hair, called trichotillomania or hair-pulling disorder.
