Horror and relief under the scalpel … According to information from the Daily Mail, a mother living in Cornwall worried about her 14 -year -old daughter who suffered from increasingly intense stomach aches. But when she thought of food intolerance, the exams revealed anything else in her child’s body. A huge ball … of hair, rotting in its stomach.
A ball of hair the size of a watermelon
Adolescent Erin has been suffering from sporadic abdominal pain since November 2024. But the first tests made to detect an intolerance (in particular gluten) did not give anything abnormal. So when the girl’s cramps intensify last May, the mother of the latter wishes answers and toque to the door of different specialists. mysterious.
Emergency transported to the children’s hospital in Bristol, a surgical operation confirmed that it was a ball of hair (or trichobézoard). Stuck in the adolescent stomach, probably for “years”, the intruder had unpublished dimensions: almost 22 cm in diameter!
A TOC that has never been detected
No less than 5 hours were then necessary to “free” Erin’s stomach. “The surgeons said that the smell was unbearable”admitted Jodie Collins, the mother. According to them, it was one of the biggest masses of hair they ever had to treat. But beyond the “record”, the girl exposed serious health problems: by occupying almost all her stomach, the mass prevented the food from being properly assimilated. Erin was anemic and suffered from many nutritional problems.
The consequence of what is called trichotillomania, a disorder which consists in ingesting your own hair. In the girl, the trouble had gone unnoticed for years. ” When she was a baby, I fed her bottle and she grabbed my hair and twisted it ”admits Jodie. “But I have never seen her put her hair in her mouth, that’s why it shocked me. The surgeon said that she could do it while sleeping without even realizing it. It is true that she often spin her hair”.
© Capture Dailymail screen / Kennedy News and Media
What is trichotillomania?
Trichotillomania designates the fact of voluntarily tearing hair, but also hair, eyelashes or eyebrows, in order to soothe inner tension. It is not a disease strictly speaking, but rather a behavioral disorder linked to difficult management of emotions. “It is toxicomaniac behavior which belongs to gestural addictions and which can unfortunately last for years” explained Jean-Christophe Seznec, psychiatrist and pharmacologist in a previous article. In fact, this disorder touches girls more.
This behavior may appear very early. Two periods are particularly observed:
- Around 1 to 2 years old, when the child touches his hair to calm down, often in the evening or at night, which can worry parents;
- In adolescence, during significant transitions generating stress and upheavals.
The person concerned can then tear their hair continuously or by crises, most often alone, in the evening, after a stressful day, or even during a moment of boredom or high concentration. And why not during the night like here. The result is then both aesthetic (the hair can become sparse), psychological (shame is frequent), and serious, as in the case of Erin.
Management is possible to break the cycle
Fortunately, if you spot a trend for trichotillomania, care allows you to overcome the disorder.
- In the small child : It is a question of reassuring parents, exploring family tensions, promoting tactile interactions (massages, games). “Very often parents of children with trichotillomania have a more brain than tactile relationship with their offspring”, observed Jean-Christophe Seznec;
- In adolescence : Better to favor behavioral and cognitive therapies or Act (therapy of acceptance and commitment), as well as mindfulness, meditation, or alternative gestures (touch a jewel, a garment, etc.).
For Erin, today on the path of healing, therapy and a follow -up of his stomach (which could remain oversized for years) are on the program. “”We have now bought him one of these hats to sleep in case she refers him during her sleep “, Also explains Jodie. The mother, now relieved, also encourages parents to be more responsive.
“Consider giving children who make their hair spray anti-stress toys or something to break this cycle. Do not leave it aside for years.”