An 18-year-old teenager who is used to eating hair from carpet and her head for years resulting in blockage of digestive system was successfully operated on

A teenager who couldn't drink a glass of water without being sick was found to have a massive hair ball blocking her digestive system.

Ayperi Alekseeva, from Kyrgyzstan, had spent years picking up hair from the carpet and eating it. She also chewed the tips of her hair.

When she finally sought medical help, doctors pulled out a hairball weighing almost 9lb (4kg). 

They say without emergency surgery, the 18-year-old, who was badly dehydrated and malnourished, would almost certainly have died.

They add that despite searching through 50 years of medical records, they could find no evidence of such a large hairball. 

Miss Alekseeva had been brought to the hospital, in the town of Batken, by her parents after complaining of severe stomach pains.

After X-raying her, doctors realised there was a blockage and referred her to Bishkek Hospital in country's capital for surgery.

The hospital's senior professor of surgery, Bahadir Bebezov,said: 'The parents brought her in after she started losing weight, and she couldn't eat anything.

'By the time we got her, she couldn't even drink water. We realised we needed to operate immediately.

'It was actually the only alternative, nothing else would solve the problem. 

'In fact, her stomach was so badly swollen from hair and bits of wool from the carpet that it literally just oozed out soon as the wall of the stomach was cut.'

He added: 'Psychologically, apart from a habit of picking up hair from the carpet and eating it, the young girl was perfectly normal and healthy. 

'She also chewed the tips of her hair.'

Miss Alekseeva, who is now recovering from surgery and will return home shortly, has now promised never to chew her hair in the future.