Doctors pull 4kg hairball from teenager's stomach

A 4kg hairball has been found inside a teenage girl who was rushed to hospital with stomach pains.

Ayperi Alekseeva, 18, was suffering extreme dehydration and malnourishment, unable to even drink water without being violently sick because of her mystery illness.

She was rushed to hospital in the Batken Province of Kyrgyzstan, in central Asia, where doctors made the shocking discovery, UK newspaper Metro reports.

The hairball had formed from the girl chewing the tips of her hair, as well as from eating hair and bits of wool she found on the carpet at her home.

Professor Bahadir Bebezov said Ms Alekseeva was mentally healthy despite her strange habit.

"By the time we got her (to hospital), she could not even drink water. We realised we needed to operate immediately," he said.

"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."

Ms Alekseeva is expected to spend the rest of the week recovering in hospital.