via medicine.iu.edu
Giant hairball was found in the abdomen of an 18-year-old woman.

She complained to doctors of suffering five months of pain and swelling, causing her to vomit after eating and lose 18kg in weight.

A scan of the abdomen by doctors in Chicago revealed a large mass, and they then lowered a scope through her esophagus. It showed the medical team that a ball of hair was blocking the woman’s stomach.

The patient told doctors she had a habit of eating her hair, something she had been doing for five years. The condition is called trichophagia. The scientific name for a hairball is a trichobezoar.
Souce: Metro

What is Bezoar?

Hairball

Bezoar is an alternative name for trichobezoar or hairball.

Chewing on or eating hair or fuzzy materials (or indigestible materials such as plastic bags) can lead to the formation of a bezoar. The rate is very low and the risk is greater among mentally retarded or emotionally disturbed children. Generally bezoars are mostly seen in females aged 10 to 19.
Quoted from MedLine Plus

via CNN

Trichophagia Related Links:

Trichotillomanie

• Doctors untangle the strange case of the giant hairball - CNN
  The prestigious journal details the case of a previously healthy 18-year-old woman who consulted a team of gastrointestinal specialists.
• Bezoar - Learning Radiology
  A hairball in a mentally disturbed 14 year-old girl who was eating her own hair.
• Hairballs: Myths and Realities behind some Medical Curiosities - Washington DC Museum
  Every cat owner knows about hairballs—usually you “find” them in the middle of the night after you’ve stepped into a pile of something that looks and feels like anything but hair. Did you know that cats aren’t the only ones to get hairballs?
• A Three Years Old Indian Girl with Bizarre Eating Habit - Hong Kong Journal of Paediatrics
  An Indian girl who presented with a grossly distended abdomen was admitted for suspected child neglect and malnutrition.
• Hairball - Wikipedia
  A hairball is a small collection of hair or fur formed in the stomach. Cats are especially prone to hairball formation since they groom themselves by licking their fur leading to hair going into the stomach. Rabbits are also prone to hairballs because they groom themselves in the same fashion as cats, but hairballs are especially dangerous for rabbits because they can’t vomit them.