My teenage daughter complained of tummy aches for months before doctors found a ‘putrid’ melon-sized hairball in her stomach… and here is the shocking photo

A mother was left horrified after doctors discovered what she thought was her daughter’s ‘gluten intolerance’ was actually a ‘putrid’ melon-sized hairball in her stomach; which made the young girl anaemic.

Jodie Collins, who lives in Newquay, Cornwall, revealed she went from one professional to another trying to figure out what could be behind 14-year-old Erin’s sporadic tummy pains, which had been bothering her since November last year before the baffling revelation.

The mother-of-two believed her symptoms could be a food intolerance but all the relevant testing came back as normal.

It wasn’t until May of this year that her child’s cramps grew dramatically worse, leading Jodie to push for answers.

The 48-year-old was immediately concerned when doctors felt a hard mass that was believed to be a hairball in Erin’s stomach – also known as a trichobezoar.

She was rushed to Bristol Children’s Hospital, where a surgery confirmed a giant, 8.3-inch hairball was stuck inside the unsuspecting teen’s stomach – and was likely there ‘for years’.

Surgeons spent five hours pulling out the blockage, which had consequently left Erin suffering with multiple nutritional issues.

Jodie, who works in administration, said her daughter had been a hair-twirler since a baby – but had never seen her ingest any of her tresses, leading doctors to suspect that Erin could be eating her 20-inch locks in her sleep.

Luckily, Erin has made a recovery after 10 days in hospital, but the shocking ordeal has left Jodie determined on sharing the dangers of hair-twirling with others.

‘Erin was suffering with really bad stomach cramps for a good six months,’ she added. ‘I put it down to food intolerances, I thought she could be lactose or gluten intolerant.

‘The doctors couldn’t seem to figure it out. The food intolerance tests found nothing.

‘The pain was quite high up. It was really sporadic but when it came, it was really bad and she had to be off school.

‘I pushed it with the doctor and they referred her for an ultrasound but that didn’t pick up anything and it was completely normal.’

It wasn’t until later scans that the horrifying discovery was made. 

‘As a baby I used to bottlefeed her and she would grab my hair and twist it,’ Jodie revealed. ‘She’s always been really tactile and played with hair.

‘But I have never seen her put her hair in her mouth, which is why it was shocking to me.

‘The surgeon said she could be doing it in her sleep without even realising. She twirls her hair a lot.’

The hairball left Erin’s stomach three times bigger than its usual size – and she was then given a personalised vitamin and mineral food bag to help replenish the nutrients that it had been preventing her body from ingesting.

‘The surgeons said the smell was unbelievable,’ Jodie admitted. ‘I’d imagine it was like your worst plughole. He said it was putrid and one of the biggest they’d ever dealt with.

‘They’re not sure how long it was there for. I suspect it was years looking at the size of it.

‘They were really grateful when they went in that it hadn’t gone into her intestines as that would’ve been really complex.

‘It took up pretty much the whole of her stomach. The consequence of that was her food wasn’t being processed properly. She was anaemic and had lots of nutritional issues.

‘Her stomach was drained after. It was much more serious than I’d ever anticipated. It could’ve been a lot worse, she would’ve collapsed eventually.’

Although Erin is on the road to recovery, her stomach may remain oversized for years.

‘We’ve now bought her one of those bonnets to sleep in just in case she’s doing it in her sleep,’ Jodie explained.

‘Look at getting kids who twirl their hair fidget toys or something to break that cycle or if it’s really bad, then apparently CBT therapy can be good for breaking hair-twirling.

‘Don’t just leave it for years. Definitely try and break the habit.’