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A housewife who spent more than two decades chewing her locks had a 3kg hairball removed from her stomach.

The woman from a small village in Punchkula, near Chandigarh, northern India was admitted into a local government hospital last week with severe abdomen pain.

The 31-year-old wasn’t able to eat or even take a sip of water without immediately vomiting.

Surgeon Dr Hardeep Singh said: "We asked her if she had a habit of chewing her hair, which she denied.

"But when we got her ultrasound done, it confirmed a huge mass in her stomach that demanded immediate attention."

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(Image: Cover Asia Press)

After surgery last Friday, the mother of three confessed she had an addiction to chewing her hair since she was nine-years-old.

"Her stomach and intestines were filled with hair so there was no way she could’ve digested food or water.

"Whatever she consumed was not getting absorbed and she would vomit."

(Image: Cover Asia Press)

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Dr Singh said he’d never seen anything like it. "It was around 40 cm long. She is now having proper meals without any issue and will be discharged from hospital after three days once her stitches are removed."

It is a rare psychological disorder called trichophagia, or Rapunzel syndrome.

Dr Singh said: "This is usually found in young girls where they suffer some kind of depression in their early years.

"Some of them eat chalk, cement, jute and stones. It demands immediate attention. If not noticed, it can be fatal."