'Horrific' hairball removed from girl's stomach

Mia, aged seven, underwent a five-hour operation in March

A seven-year-old girl had to have a hairball removed from her stomach in a five-hour operation.

Mia, from Redcar, was rushed to hospital in Newcastle in March with stomach pains and sickness.

Doctors found a six-inch long hairball which was covering 80% of her bowel. It had accumulated from Mia chewing and eating her hair for five years.

Her mother, Catherine, said: "If they hadn't seen her when they did, she wouldn't be here."

She said medical professionals had previously told her not to worry about her daughter's hair chewing habit.

The condition, known as Trichophagia or Rapunzel Syndrome, mainly affects teenage girls and can be caused by stress, anxiety or comfort seeking.

Mia said eating her hair was a "comfort thing", but her mother said seeing the hairball was "horrific".

A hairball was found in Mia's stomach

Catherine believes the condition is more common than people realise and wants parents to take it more seriously if they find their children chewing their hair.

"I don’t want anyone else to experience what we’ve been through as a family," she said.

Meanwhile, Mia is back at school and has made a full recovery.

"Don’t eat your hair," she said. "You may not be as lucky as me and if you do it will cause you a lot of pain."