Trichophagia (Greek: ??????????, from ?????, tricha "hair" ??????, phagein "eating" ) is a compulsive meal of trichotillomania-related hair (pulling hair). In trichophagia, people with trichotillomania also swallow the hair they pull; in extreme cases (and rarely) this can cause hair balls (trichobezoar).
Video Trichophagia
Signs and symptoms
Trichophagia is characterized by people who eat hair, usually their own; especially after pulling it out. Most often, hair is pulled out and then the edges of the root tubers are eaten, or sometimes the hair shaft itself. Hair eventually accumulates in the gastrointestinal tract (sometimes, and depending on the severity of the symptoms) causes indigestion and abdominal pain. Rituals are a powerful factor, and may involve touching root tubers to the lips, stroking the hair, and occasionally chewing it. Sometimes those who suffer from abnormalities can even eat someone else's hair. In the psychological field it is considered a compulsive psychological disorder.
Maps Trichophagia
Prognosis
Rapunzel syndrome, an extreme form of trichobezoar in which the "tail" of the hair ball extends into the intestine, can be fatal if misdiagnosed. In some cases, surgery may be needed to remove the mass; a trichobezoar weighing 4.5 kilograms (9.9 pounds) was removed from the stomach of an 18-year-old woman with trichophagia.
History
Trichophagia is most often covered in medical literature only "as a rare trichotillomania symptom." In the 18th century, French physician M. Baudamant described this condition to a 16-year-old boy.
In media
Trichophagia is mentioned in the episode of 1000 Ways to Die Stupid Is As Stupid Dies featuring a young woman who died because of it. It is also mentioned in Gray Anatomy season 9 episode 11 "The End Is the Beginning Is the End".
References
External links
- The TLC Foundation for a Body-Focused Recurrent Behavior
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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