Young girl with ‘Rapunzel syndrome’ swallowed stomach full of her own hair

A Norfolk schoolgirl has undergone a four-hour operation to remove a giant hairball from her abdomen that had ‘worn away’ parts of her digestive system – the unpleasant consequences of her six-year hair chewing habit.

Sophia Goss, from Lenwade, Norfolk, started pulling out her hair and chewing on it when she was 18 months old, as a ‘calming’ technique to help her fall asleep.

The habit continued throughout her childhood, despite her mother’s attempt to put an end to it by applying olive oil to her hair.

But one morning in December, the nine-year-old girl woke up with a painful stomach ache, prompting her parents to rush her to the hospital.

There, doctors discovered the hairball ‘as big as her stomach’ and operated to remove it.

Although her mother Megan Sayce, 32, tried to break her habit by smearing olive oil on the youngster’s hair, Sophia, now nine, was rushed to hospital after fainting from the pain in her stomach.

Hair getting stuck in the stomach is known by some doctors as ‘Rapunzel syndrome’, which is extremely rare and mainly affects young women.

The problem is usually caused by trichophagia – a psychiatric condition in which patients eat their own hair.

The main symptoms of ‘Rapunzel syndrome’ are abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, bloated stomach, loss of appetite, weight loss and constipation or diarrhea.

Ms Sayce, a manager at McDonald’s, said the ordeal was ‘terrifying’.

‘The hairball filled her entire stomach and had worn away the lining, causing her stomach contents to leak into her body.

‘She was not allowed to eat or drink for seven days and was in intensive care for seven of the ten days she was in hospital.

‘Six weeks before the operation we took her to the doctor 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 in which hair that a person has eaten becomes tangled and stuck in the stomach

The main symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, bloated stomach, loss of appetite, weight loss and constipation or diarrhea.

Sophia started pulling out her hair when she was just a toddler.

“She did it while she was falling asleep,” Ms. Sayce said.

“She was pulling out strands all the time; the GP and the health clinic had no real advice.

‘I googled it and managed to get her to stop within eight weeks. “I put olive oil in her hair and bought her gloves to wear when she slept so she couldn’t pull on them.”

When Sophia was four, she threw up a hairball.

“We took her to a doctor but he didn’t really know what could stop it,” Ms Sayce said.

“Eventually she got better and seemed to outgrow chewing her hair, so we didn’t think much about it.”

On New Year’s Eve 2018, Sophia was taken to the emergency room by her parents because they thought she had the stomach flu.

That was until she threw up a hairball.

But her parents were told that she had surrendered everything and that she had nothing to worry about.

However, five years later, on December 12, 2023, Sophia woke up crying in pain and said she felt like she was “going to die.” She vomited and fainted.

“I’ve never heard her scream in such pain before so we called the GP when they opened but they couldn’t fit her until 5pm,” Mrs Sayce said.

After the four and a half hour gastric perforation operation, Sophia spent ten days in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and has now recovered

Family wants to raise awareness about Rapunzel Syndrome as mother said opportunities to identify problem were likely missed

She spoke to 111, who advised an ambulance would not be necessary, and advised the family to avoid the ‘busy’ hospital.

But worried it was appendicitis, Sophia’s parents decided to take her.

After the four and a half hour gastric perforation operation, Sophia spent ten days in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and has now recovered.

Mrs Sayce said: ‘She was chewing the ends (of her hair) but as there was no bald spot we didn’t think that was it. She doesn’t do it anymore.’

The family wants to raise awareness about Rapunzel Syndrome.

Mrs Sayce said: ‘There isn’t much help or knowledge as the chewing on her seems quite harmless.

‘But we were lucky with Sophia; If we hadn’t taken her to the hospital she would have developed sepsis and who knows what would have happened.

‘Just chewing or sucking on the hair can cause problems. Parents should keep an eye on your children, go to the doctors and press them for answers.

“If they have stomach aches and bloating, find answers and help break the habit.”