A MAN who had smoked for decades developed an unusual side effect which left black wiry hairs growing in the back of his throat. Docs said the 52-year-old, who has not been named, complained of a hoarse voice, trouble breathing and a chronic cough . The patient, from Austria, claimed to have started smoking in 1990 when he was 20 years old and already had reported one instance of having coughed up a hair.
Medics decided to investigate by sending a small camera down his airways, where they discovered several dark hairs growing in his throat. Initially, doctors were able to extract the hairs, providing the man with temporary relief. He was also precibed antibiotics , after the hairs were found to be coated in bacteria.
But sadly, the hair continued to return every year for the next 14 years, like clockwork. He was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called endotracheal hair growth, or hair growing in the throat. Although they can't say for sure, the doctors believed the hair growth was likely triggered by his smoking habit.
Writing in the American Journal of Case Report , the authors said this bizarre incident was only the second case of its kind. The scientists - also from Austria - explained that smoking can trigger inflammation of the throat, which can cause cells to turn into hair follicles. Each time doctors looked, there were six to nine two-inch hairs growing in the man's throat.
Some of the hairs made a habit of burring themselves into his voice box and making th.
