A woman has been relieved after a giant hairball was removed from her stomach which has tormented her for years.
The massive hairball removed from a woman's stomach
Doctors were left shocked after removing a giant hairball from a woman suffering from constipation and an enlarged abdomen.
The 38-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because she had lost more than a stone after having no appetite for the previous year, which doctors said left her looking tired with an unhealthy pale appearance.
According to Dailymail, her condition became deteriorated after tests came out inconclusive as doctors were forced to operate on her. They discovered a hairball lodged in her stomach, roughly the size of a melon, with a 'tail' going into the first part of her intestine.
It measured six by four inches with another, smaller, one in her large intestine.
She was diagnosed with Rapunzel syndrome, a rare condition in which a hairball (called a trichobezar) is found in the stomach, with its tail in the colon.
Named after the Grimms fairy tale character, is associated with trichotillomania, where sufferers have an irresistible urge to pull out one's hair, and trichophagia, the compulsive eating of hair.
After surgery she was discharged six days later and sent to see a psychiatrist and nutritionist.