10 lb. hairball pulled from girl's stomach

**Sister Iroz** · November 26th, 2008, 09:49 PM

November 26, 2008 -- An 11-year-old girl in Mumbai, India, was hospitalized with pain in her stomach, and surgeons were forced to operate. What they found was a foot-long hairball.

The mass of hair -- known as a trichobozear - -is a potentially fatal result of a mental illness called trichotillomania, a condition in which the patient pulls her hair out and, in many cases, eats it. And while the condition is not well known, American doctors say that it may afflict 1 percent of all Americans.

"It's a fairly uncommon outcome for trichs," said Dr. Martin Franklin, associate professor of clinical psychology and psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, who studies trichotillomania in children and adolescents. "But it's pretty life-threatening if you do end up here."

While he notes that most who have trichotillomania do not eat their hair after pulling it out, he said this extreme form of the condition occurs in between 30 and 50 percent of patients.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?se...lth&id=6526409

**DarkPrincess** · November 26th, 2008, 11:14 PM

That is bizarre.

**moonlilly1981** · November 27th, 2008, 12:11 AM

poor kid. I have seen pictures where people ( mostly women for some odd reason ) pull themselves bald or almost bald.

**Peeperann** · November 27th, 2008, 12:14 AM

Special, I love you, but you do come up with the most bizarre posts! I love them!

**Unamused Cat** · November 27th, 2008, 12:15 AM

Eww.... just ewww. If they can't stop her from pulling her hair out, she needs a super short hair cut.

**crickett** · November 27th, 2008, 09:57 PM

I'd be getting her that haircut while she was still in the hospital. Ewwwwwww
And "Thanks" UCat and Special...I'm outta thanks again so here tis

**DirtyLopez** · November 27th, 2008, 10:14 PM

This can also be called a form of pica(philia). Those with this condition will eat the most peculiar matter. I learnt about this from The Morbid Fact du Jour of Comtesse Despair(they send em a morbid fact ever day). A man in the UK was found with a nicely amounted set of loose currency in his belly. Also, dirt and feces are popular in the diet of someone with pica. ... I have a mild case of trichotillomania(see my 16 little known facts)

This also reminds me of a story a friend, who was a retractor for a surgeon at the Harris hospital, they gave me the scoop on. She told me the story of a woman who had an ingrown hair in the small of her back that was causing her pain. They opened her up and their was a mass of hair within the hole, and a shitload of pus drainage.

This also triggers another memory of a segment on TLC - 101 things removed from the human body. Fetus infetus(someone correct me if im wrong?), I think the condition is called. Check it out for yourselves:

http://www.dumpalink.com/videos/Twin...ears-34d1.html

**Gidget** · November 27th, 2008, 11:39 PM

I was reading this and wondering why this wouldn't be a diagnosis of pica plus the hairpulling (that I can't spell) because they seem to be unrelated. Maybe I would know if I had gone to graduate school like a good girl.

And do you think this is what's wrong with the myspace bride that was posted a few days ago? She had like no hair on top of her head.

**DirtyLopez** · November 28th, 2008, 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by Gidget

I was reading this and wondering why this wouldn't be a diagnosis of pica plus the hairpulling (that I can't spell) because they seem to be unrelated. Maybe I would know if I had gone to graduate school like a good girl.

And do you think this is what's wrong with the myspace bride that was posted a few days ago? She had like no hair on top of her head.

It's never too late to go to school, and I know they offer great, affordable rates in the land of snorks. I have not gone to college : shame: I do research a lot through books and online. My trivial database is almost brimful to its capacity.

**Gidget** · November 28th, 2008, 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by DirtyLopez

It's never too late to go to school, and I know they offer great, affordable rates in the land of snorks. I have not gone to college : shame: I do research a lot through books and online. My trivial database is almost brimful to its capacity.

I plan to go back to school. Some day. I have recognized, though, that I'm having a touch of a midlife crisis, as my field of study changes drastically from one month to the next. This time last year, I was touring local law schools. Now, I'm researching music programs. Go figure.