MISERY OF HAIRBALL
A MUM with a compulsion to swallow her own hair had a brick-sized ball of it in her stomach.
Sophie Cox, 23, thought she had beaten the craving which she developed as a toddler. AMY SHARPE operation to remove it in April. She said: “I felt instantly better when I woke up, even though I was sore and groggy.
“They showed me the photo – it was 30cm long and weighed a stone. It was disgusting and I cried with relief that it was gone.”
Sophie was a toddler when she first yanked out and ate her hair. Her family thought it was “a phase” as she stopped after a few months.
But in 2010, aged 17, she noticed bald patches on her scalp. She said: “I would wake in the night and find strands of hair in my mouth.
“I was so embarrassed. I was ashamed to tell anyone or try to get help.”
Sophie said the compulsion to eat her hair came on when she was “emotional, tired or stressed”.
She said: “Friends would notice and slap my hands away from my head, but they thought it was just a habit.
“If I repressed the urge during the day I’d only pull out more clumps at night.”
In November 2013 Sophie even cut her hair short to try to stop tugging it out.
In November 2015 she had a tiny camera passed down her throat at Cheltenham General Hospital and surgeons found the hairball.
Since the surgery, Sophie has not been pulling out her hair but has been put on a waiting list to see a psychologist about her condition.
She added: “I’m just so thankful it was found before it was too late. Now, I can get on with being a hands-on mum.”