A 52-year-old Austrian man's smoking habit led to the growth of hair inside his throat. This peculiar case, detailed last week in the American Journal of Case Reports, underscores the bizarre and often dangerous complications that can arise from long-term tobacco use.
The unnamed man, a seasoned pack-a-day smoker, first sought medical help in 2007, experiencing a hoarse voice, difficulty breathing, and a persistent cough. A bronchoscopy revealed inflammation and several hairs growing in his throat, particularly in an area previously operated on following a childhood near-drowning incident.
At age 10, the man had undergone a tracheotomy, stabilised with a skin and cartilage graft from his ear, which later became the unexpected site of hair growth.
Doctors diagnosed him with endotracheal hair growth, a condition so rare it had only been documented once before. The hairs, typically six to nine in number and about 2 inches long, grew through his voice box and into his mouth, necessitating annual hospital visits for 14 years.
Despite temporary relief from plucking the hairs and antibiotic treatment for bacteria-covered follicles, the hairs continually regrew.
In 2022, the man’s condition took a turn for the better when he quit smoking. This allowed doctors to perform an endoscopic argon plasma coagulation, a procedure that burns the root from which the hair grows. A second treatment the following year eradicated the hair growth completely.
