Hairball the size of a MELON removed from teenager's stomach

This is the gruesome moment doctors removed a massive 2kg hairball from a teenage girl's stomach.
Aakansha Kumari, 16, had secretly been eating her own hair for years - but her parents had no idea anything was wrong until her weight plummeted to just over TWO stone.

She was having problems eating and kept vomiting so doctors did an x-ray which revealed a huge mass taking up more than 80 per cent of her stomach.
They were astonished when they pulled a massive lump of tangled hair from her belly - and diagnosed her with trichophagia - where people compulsively eat their own hair.

The melon-ball sized hairball (Image: SWNS - Bristol +44 (0)1179066550)

Aakansha Kumari, 16, had secretly been eating her own hair for years (Image: SWNS - Bristol +44 (0)1179066550)

Her parents had no idea anything was wrong until her weight plummeted to just over TWO stone (Image: SWNS - Bristol +44 (0)1179066550)

A team, led by gastro surgeon Dr Abhay Kumar, removed the hairball in a open surgery at Doon Medical College and Hospital, in Dehradun, India.
He said: "The hairball occupied 250 ml to 300 ml of space in the stomach. And this was causing her to lose interest in eating.
"The surgery was challenging because we had to extract the hairball in one go.
"We couldn't do it piece by piece and risk dropping strands of hair in the body cavity as it would lead to further complications.

A team, led by gastro surgeon Dr Abhay Kumar, removed the hairball (Image: SWNS - Bristol +44 (0)1179066550)

Her father, Satish Chandra, there was a visible lump on her stomach before the op (Image: SWNS - Bristol +44 (0)1179066550)

The girl is much happier after her operation (Image: Newslions / SWNS)

"The girl is doing much better after surgery."
Her father, Satish Chandra, there was a visible lump on her stomach before the op.
He added: "My daughter is looking much healthier and happier now."