Hair is resistant to food digestion and isn’t quickly moved through the gastrointestinal system. It typically gets lodged in folds of the stomach lining, denatures, and then traps food and gunk to form a mass. In time, it will continue to gather product, turning into a thick, matted heap.

Of all the bezoars, trichobezoars are the most typical. None of them are especially simple to area. On CT scans, bezoars can be equivalent from food in the stomach unless there’s an oral contrast product. To search for a possible bezoar in the teenager, her medical professionals purchased an esophagogastroduodenoscopy, in which a scope is put down into the stomach through the mouth. With that, they got a clear shot of the issue: a trichobezoar. (The image is here, however a caution: it’s graphic.)

Twisted tail

This trichobezoar was especially uncommon; hair from the mottled mat had actually hung down from the stomach and into the little bowel, which is an exceptionally unusual condition called Rapunzel syndrome, called after the fairy-tale character who lets down her long hair. It brings a host of problems beyond severe stomach discomfort, consisting of perforation of the stomach and intestinal tracts, and severe pancreatitis. The only resolution is surgical elimination. In the teenager’s case, the trichobezoar came out throughout surgical treatment utilizing a gastrostomy tube. Cosmetic surgeons recuperated a hairball about 2.5 inches broad, in addition to the dangling hair that reached into the little intestinal tract.

For any client with a trichobezoar, the most crucial next action is to deal with any psychiatric conditions that may underlie hair-eating habits. Hair consuming is typically connected to a condition called trichotillomania, a repeated habits condition marked by hair pulling. In some cases, the condition can be detected by indications of loss of hair– bald spots, inflamed scalp locations, or hair at various development phases. For the many part, it’s an incredibly hard condition to detect, as clients have significant pity and shame about the condition and will frequently go to excellent lengths to conceal it.

Another possibility is that the teenager had pica, a condition marked by relentless consuming of nonfood, nonnutritive compounds. Intriguingly, the teenager kept in mind that she had pica as a young child. Medical professionals were hesitant that pica might describe her condition provided that hair was the only nonfood product in the bezoar.

The teenager’s medical professionals would have liked to get to the bottom of her condition and referred her to a psychiatrist after she effectively recuperated from surgical treatment. Regrettably, she did not return for follow-up care and informed her medical professionals she would rather see a hypnotherapist that her good friends suggested.