Here’s an interesting news report about a woman who had a 10-pound hairball removed
from her stomach. It seems she went to the hospital about a year ago complaining of pain, abdominal swelling and vomiting after she ate. She also lost 40 pounds in 5 months.
The problem? She had trichophagia, a condition in which a person eats their own hair. Doctors said she must have been doing it for years. The hairball was surgically removed and the patient is doing fine.
But it just goes to show you that cats aren’t the only ones who can get hairballs. If you think you have trichophagia, consult a doctor. There have been cases where a hairball was fatal.
–Midbrain
Have you ever tasted your tresses? Be honest! Leave a comment and confess.
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Ewww, I want to vomit just thinking about it. I get freaked out when hair is anywhere near my mouth. I don’t know how cats do it!
Sounds like the perfect subplot for an episode of Grey’s Anatomy!
The jokes aren’t funny. I have this condition and it isn’t controlled very well. I want to stop so badly but at the same time I want so badly to eat my hair. It sounds gross to me too, and it’s very embarassing. I just wish there was a way I could stop having these impluses without medication, seeing as I am a 21 year old mother.
I agree with Anna, I have this condition too.. I’ve had it for 2 to 3 years now and I can’t stop. It has only just come out to my cousin and my friend because I am so embarrassed of it. I hate doing it and it sounds really gross to me too, and reading most of them comments has upset me even more. I don’t know what to do, I can’t stop crying about it. All I want to do is stop since I’m only 14. I always seem to get stomach pains and chest pains recently and I’m not too sure what to do. I just want help …..
My 10 year old daughter is in a hospital now recovering. If you do this please see a GI doctor. My daughters was spotted with an x-ray and then a sonogram. I am so sad right now looking for help. Your digestive system will back up and bile will fill your stomach. If your vomit is green this maybe an indicator. If not treated you can die.
Thank You
Philip
My autistic daughter has started pulling her hair out and eating it. She can not talk due to autism, so I am at a loss as what is wrong, whether she is missing something in her diet that is causing this. For Anna, if you will share with me, what medication are you taking?
person below probably has eating disorder haha
eww. i feel like vometing
I HAVE THIS PROBLEM ALSO I HAVE BEEN DOING IT NOW FOR ALMOST 25 YEARS I AM 40 NOW I DONT DO IT AS OFTEBN AS I USE TO BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN I GET THE URGE TO DO IT ITS NOT A LAUGHING MATTER AND WE NEED TO GET MORE EDUCATED ON IT
i have it too i’m 13 an a boy but, ive only been doing it for like 6 months. i stopped when i read all the reports on having to have surgery. people ITS A DISORDER AND IF IT SOUNDS GROSS TO YOU, IT DOESNT TO US SO SHUT UP AND GET INTO OUR SHOES!!! i’m gonna see a gp so i can get advise and a scan to see i surgery is needed and for him to recomen me a behaviour doctor to control my tempation to eat my own hair. If you have this problem too, i suggest you do the same. I also almost cried when i found out that it was extremely dangerous… I can’t wait ntil i see that doctor, i’m dying!!!
Question.
im eighteen,and ive been doing this for about as long as i can remember. but heres the thing. i only eat little strands..its not like some people ive seen who eat chunks and chunks of hair.. i’ll pull out strands and just chew on them. sometimes i swallow it, sometimes i dont….is what i have REALLY Trich?
I’m wondering the same thing as the person above me…I mean I’m pretty sure it is trich but I could be wrong.
I use to just suck on the ends of my hair but then sucking turned to nibbling and nibbling turned to chewing and before I could realize it I had gone from 36 inches of long tresses to shoulder length choppy hair.
It was a nightmare. I missed my long beautiful hair so much that I vowed to stop but it was soooo hard!! My hair tasted so nice- it was thick, lusterous and healthy. The taste of hair is very similar to nails. Like when you grind a bunch of strands in your mouth into powder the taste is alot like finger nails- very karatin like.
So what I do now is run my fingers down my hair and only eat the loose hairs. So far my hair is down to my chest and continues growing healthy. But, do I still have trich?
My 2 year old daughter eat my hair as well as her, she’ll find hair on the floor, in the brush any where and she’ll eat it. It scears me what could happen.
Thankyou for tell us your storys so we know it’s not just us.
I apologise in advance-If you’re easily grossed you might want to skip this.I have been eating eyebrow and nasal hair for over 20 years-I dont know why or how it started I know its disgusting but I cant help it.I dont do it as much as I used to.I dont think it would form a hairball as I bite them into tiny bits!
As a young child 10-12 I used to eat coal,candle wax and firelighters !
I think I must be some kind of freak!!!
I don’t think you’re a freak! But you should talk to a doctor about it. There are certain things they can do to modify your behavior. As you can imagine, it is not really a good thing to do to yourself.
i’m a 13 year old girl, and when i read those comments, the worries come..
i always were twirling my hear but since 1/2/ year(s) i’m eating it! In the past i found it very oddy, but know i can’t stop anymore! I’m afraid todie and afraid that i have a psychic but then I think, well im not crazy you know ;s. It’s shaming when i eat my hear when there are strangers and people in my surroundings
i’m afraid, what do i have to do?
I have been eating my hair since childhood. I have never told my doctor,and I suffer from other mental problems. I don’t know if I even want to stop
I am turning 40 and have been pulling my hair and then nibbling it since I was 14. It is madness! I am intelligent and my life is fab and I hide my naughty secret really really well. I always pull from different spots to avoid bald patches. I have successfully hidden it from all of my friends and family plus my husband of 10 years. I really can’t stop. I look at the pictures on the web of hairballs and I have to wonder whether those people are eating long hairs and that is why they clump together. I have had various operations over the years and nothing has ever come up on an ultrasound.
umm.. yikes, I have a tendancy to nibble on my own moustache or the hairs on my fingers. I never actually thought to look this up until just now and I have done this for many many years. Time to stop, hopefully nothing is stuck in there. It would probably pass over time though. I also drink a lot of cokes which are acidic so, who knows they might have been my saving grace by helping weaken and erode the strands.
No need to do this, it is just hair, there are better things to eat out there!
This is disgusting. All you people that know you have a problem and won’t fix it is just ignorant and stupid. A person old enough to know that eating hair is wrong and disgusing and hazzard to your health and can’t stop? Just stupid.
That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard. Hair and scalp is so damn disgusting. I am sick to read these.
@Gross – It’s not a matter of being stupid. It’s just how their brains are operating at the moment. It takes re-training help people change. Criticism is minimally effective.
I have been doing this for since i was 13, i am now 35. when I started I pulled all my hair out and ate it within 6 months. I was “bald” until I was 18 than I started doing it in sections so my hair would grow back because I was sick of the questions…do you have cancer? whats wrong with you?… I kept it from everyone including doctors my parents took me too. I just decided to get help for it this past week and to tell my husband, who doesnt know. I am in law enforcement and have 2 little boys. I lead a very normal life. This can happen to anyone. I am now wanting to get help for it because its getting bad again where i am getting blad in spots. I have tried to “retrain” myself but it isnt working. I think the reason for the pulling I am doing now is because my father was murdered 3 months ago. I think stress has alot to do with it. I have been doing it so long I dont even notice I do it anymore until I have a bald spot.
Yes its gross but to the people that do it as long as i have, it isnt. Its like biting your nails or sucking blood off your finger when you cut yourself. Its a habit and a addiction.
To the people that want to make jokes about it, you shouldnt be on this site., this is an addiction that can kill people. its nothing to joke about.
To the rest that have it I wish the best for you!
Wow. I thought I was alone in this. Its easy for people to criticize and say, “well if you know its bad, then just stop.” I think its similar to what smokers go through. You want to stop, but you have this horrible uncontrollable urge. But smokers have a much larger support system when they want to stop. Pulling/eating hair is terribly embarrassing and its hard to reach out for help. I know I do it because of stress. I don’t know when it started, but I’ve been doing it a long time, since I was very young and I’m in my 30s now. Sometimes I’m pulling out strands here and there and then biting each one into tiny pieces and then I usually spit it out and don’t swallow it. But the thing is..I’ll be unconsciously doing it. I want to stop. I just don’t know how. I’ve tried to be very conscious of “when” I’m doing it and stopping myself. I can go a day or two sometimes, but then its back. I’m an intellegent person, I know its disgusting. Same with people who bite their nails. Its gross yes, but its uncontrollable. So, before you post any comments on how we are all crazy people and need to just stop it…think about any bad habits you may have…not so easy to stop. Obviously.
I don’t eat the hair on my head but I do nibble, pull out or tweezer and eat hair from my fingers hands forearms and lower leg. And my toes! I’m very particular in the hair I won’t eat. For the last year I’ve also been eating the hair from my boyfriends arm, sometimes grinding it off with my teeth while he’s asleep. He knows I do it and is understanding, until posting this message he’s been the only person to know. I also pick and eat scabs. I’ve done all this since I was small, I’m now in my 40s. Anyone got any advice?
im pulling my hair and eat.now im bold.my age is 16.i have consulted a doctor he said because of stress.please can you send a medicine to me.and can you send an advice to me.please reply it to me.