A Norfolk schoolgirl has undergone a four-hour operation to remove a giant ball of hair from her stomach that had ‘worn away’ parts of her digestive system — the unpleasant consequences of her six-year hair-chewing habit.
Sophia Goss, from from Lenwade, Norfolk, started pulling out her hair and chewing on it when she was 18 months old as a ‘soothing’ technique to help her fall asleep.
The habit continued throughout her childhood despite her mother’s attempt to stop it by putting olive oil on her hair.
However one morning in December, the nine year-old woke up with an agonising pain in her stomach, prompting her parents to rush her to hospital.
There, the doctors discovered the hair ball ‘the size of her belly’, and operated to remove it.
Sophia Goss, from from Lenwade, Norfolk, pictured with her dad Lewis and mum Megan, started pulling out her hair and chewing on it when she was 18 months old as a ‘soothing’ technique to help her fall asleep
Although her mother Megan Sayce, 32, attempted to break her habit by putting olive oil on the youngster’s hair, Sophia, now nine, was rushed to hospital after passing out from the pain in her stomach
Hair that becomes lodged in the stomach is known by some doctors as ‘Rapunzel syndrome’, which is extremely rare and mostly affects young women.
The problem is usually caused by trichophagia — a psychiatric condition in which sufferers eat their own hair.
The main symptoms of ‘Rapunzel syndrome’ include abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, bloated stomach, reduced appetite, weight loss and constipation or diarrhoea.
Ms Sayce, a manager at McDonald’s, said the ordeal was ‘scary’.
‘The hairball filled her whole stomach and had worn away the lining which meant her stomach contents were leaking into her body.
‘She wasn’t allowed to eat or drink for seven days and was in the high dependency unit for seven of the ten days she was in hospital.
‘Six weeks before she had the operation, we had taken her to the doctors with stomach pain and they said it was her diet without examining her too much.
‘They didn’t seem to have much awareness of what it could have been.’
Rapunzel syndrome is an extremely rare medical condition where hair a person has eaten becomes tangled and trapped in their stomach
The main symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, bloated stomach, reduced appetite, weight loss and constipation or diarrhoea
Sophia began pulling out her hair when she was just a toddler.
‘She would do it as she was falling asleep,’ said Ms Sayce.
‘She’d pull tufts out all the time — the GP and health visitor didn’t really have any advice.
‘I Googled it and managed to get her to stop in eight weeks. I put olive oil in her hair and got her some gloves for when she slept so she couldn’t pull it.’
When Sophia was four, she threw up a hair ball.
‘We took her to a doctor but they didn’t really know what could stop it,’ said Ms Sayce.
‘She eventually got better and seemed to grow out of chewing her hair, so we didn’t think much of it.’
On New Year’s Eve 2018, Sophia was taken to A&E by her parents as they thought she had a stomach bug.
That was until she threw up a hairball.
But her parents were advised she had thrown it all up and there was nothing to worry about.
However, five years later on December, 12, 2023, Sophia woke up crying in pain and saying she felt like she was ‘going to die.’ She was throwing up and passed out.
‘I’ve never heard her scream in such pain so we called the GP when they opened but they couldn’t fit her in until 5pm,’ Ms Sayce said.
After the four-and-a-half hour gastric perforation surgery, Sophia spent ten days at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and is now recovered
The family want to raise awareness of Rapunzel syndrome as mum said opportunities to identify the problem were likely missed
She spoke to 111 who advised an ambulance wouldn’t be necessary, and advised the family to avoid the ‘busy’ hospital.
But concerned it was appendicitis, Sophia’s parents decided to take her.
After the four-and-a-half hour gastric perforation surgery, Sophia spent ten days at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and is now recovered.
Ms Sayce said: ‘She used to chew on the ends [of her hair] but because there was no bald patch, we didn’t think that was what it was. She doesn’t do it anymore.’
The family want to raise awareness of Rapunzel syndrome.
Ms Sayce said: ‘There isn’t much help or knowledge because the act of chewing hair seems quite harmless.
‘But we got lucky with Sophia — if we hadn’t taken her to hospital she would’ve got sepsis and then who knows what might have happened.
‘Just chewing or sucking on the hair can cause the problems. Parents should keep an eye on your children, go to the doctors and push them for answers.
‘If they’ve got belly ache and they’re bloated, get answers and help break the habit.’
