Introductory Image

A trichobezoar, or hairball, successfully removed during surgery from the stomach of a twelve-year-old girl in 1964. From age six she had suffered from trichophagia, an emotional disorder causing a person—most often a girl entering puberty—to eat their hair. Photo courtesy National Museum of Health & Medicine, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

If you’ve enjoyed the free articles that we offer on our site, please consider subscribing to our nonprofit magazine. You get twelve online issues and unlimited access to all our archives.