Girl with Rapunzel syndrome undergoes stomach surgery after eating hair

A girl in the UK, who lives with Rapunzel syndrome, had stomach surgery to remove a 19-inch hairball.

The mental health problem causes a person to compulsively consume their own hair, resulting in an intestinal obstruction or, in the case of the teenager, a tear in the stomach, according to ScienceAlert.

After two fainting spells that left the 17-year-old with a bruised face, she was admitted to a hospital where professionals ruled out traumatic brain injury because of her enlarged abdomen and complaints of belly pain.

A CT scan found a large mass within his “grossly distended stomach” and a tear in the lining.

Doctors also found that the girl had a history of trichotillomania, which causes her hair to be pulled out, and tricophagy, which is the compulsive ingestion of hair. Both conditions are extremely rare, according to the outlet. 0.5% and 3% of people suffer from trichotillomania and only 10% to 30% of these cases will develop trichophagia. And only 1% of people with both will suffer from Rapunzel’s syndrome.

After doctors removed the hairball – which had “formed a shape of the entire stomach” – they repaired the tear. She then received psychiatric care and was sent home seven days later.

She is now “progressing well with dietary advice” and help from a therapist.