- Suman Prasad, 25, had only just given birth when she reported stomach pains
- Doctors in Indore in western India were surprised to find a giant hairball in her
- The massive fur-ball was three pounds and caused by compulsive hair eating
- Prasad is healing, say doctors, but the situation could have been far worse
Doctors in India have removed a hairball weighing three pounds from the stomach of a new mum suffering from Rapuzel Syndrome – an addiction to chewing her own hair.
Suman Prasad, 25, had just given birth to her first child, a son, but complained of severe abdominal pain days after delivery.
Her husband Ram Prasad took her to Maharaja Yashwantrao Hospital in Indore in western India where doctors first believed she had complications in her placenta after delivery.
Doctors were shocked to find a massive ‘mop’ of hairball in her bowel after CT Scan reports
However, they were shocked to find a massive ‘mop’ of hairball in her bowel in CT Scan reports.
A team of five doctors led by Dr Raj Kumar Mathur took out the hairball in an open surgery in a three-hour-long surgery on Tuesday.
Dr Mathur said: ‘We first thought her uterus was hurt in the instrumental removal of placenta. We were deciding on a surgery but were shocked to find a huge perforation in her bowel.
‘There was a massive cluster of hair lying in there. We conducted an open surgery and removed the 1.5 kilogram weighing entangled hair.
‘It seems she had been chewing her own hair for a long time that eventually plummeted to form a cluster.’
Suman seems to have been suffering from Rapunzel Syndrome – a mental disorder where in the person has an extremely rare addiction of eating hair.
Named after the long-hair girl Rapunzel in fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, the disorder is called Trichotillomania in medical terms.
Her condition is stated to be stable but doctors say she could have had serious health issues had the hairball not been removed.
A team of five doctors led by Dr Raj Kumar Mathur took out the hairball in an open surgery in a three-hour-long surgery on Tuesday
Suman was suffering from Rapunzel Syndrome – a mental disorder where in the person has an extremely rare addiction of eating hair.
‘It seems she had been chewing her own hair for a long time that eventually plummeted to form a cluster’