An unexplained abdominal pain has been suffered by a British Woman for months and she was cried several times for the relief.

Sophie Cox, 23, of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire said that the giant ball of human hair was built up over seven years of eating her tresses.

Cox was diagnosed six years ago with both trichotillomania, a condition where sufferers have a compulsive urge to pull out their hair, and trichophagia, where they eat it.

According to the Cox, “when she was stressed, she found comfort from plucking strands of hair and eating them during the day". She thought it was harmless until she became pregnant in 2014.

During her pregnancy, Cox suffered serious stomach pains and kept losing weight at a time when she should be gaining it. After two months of giving birth to a daughter, the pains became unbearable and left her doubled in agony.

“By October 2015, I couldn’t eat without vomiting and my stomach would swell up,” she said.

She added, “I’d lost [84 pounds] in two years and dropped six dress sizes, taking me to a size 12.”

It wasn’t until Cox had an endoscopy last November that they figured out what was wrong: that giant hairball.

“When they showed me the scan I was speechless. It looked like something from a horror film,” she said.

“The specialist hadn’t seen anything like it in 30 years. It was too big to break down in my stomach, leaving me malnourished and dehydrated”, said Cox.

The hairball, or trichobezoar, was removed in a six-hour operation. Since then, Cox has been monitored regularly to ensure no other hairballs develop.

“I’m just so thankful the hairball was found before it was too late, now I can get on with being a hands-on mum,” she said.