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Doctors remove 9-pound hairball from teenager's stomach

The compulsion to eat human hair is called Trichophagia, which can result in the development of Rapunzel syndrome, a condition where the ball develops a "tail" that clogs the lower intestine.

By Aileen Graef

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Doctors in Bishkek removed a nine-pound hairball from the stomach of 18-year-old Ayperi Alekseeva after she could no longer eat or drink.

The ball developed over years as the woman chewed the ends of her hair and ate hair off the floor.

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"Her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out soon as the wall of the stomach was cut," Senior professor of surgery at Bishkek hospital Bahadir Bebezov told The Daily Mail.

Aside from the hair eating compulsion that caused her to become malnourished, Alekseeva was completely healthy.

The compulsion to eat human hair is called Trichophagia, which can result in the development of Rapunzel syndrome, a condition where the ball develops a "tail" that clogs the lower intestine.

Alekseeva is recovering and promises to refrain from chewing her hair in the future.

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