The terrible horns of the devil man and the rhinoceros woman

The horrific case of a man who had a four-inch "devil's horn" removed from his head has stunned social media.

Shyam Lal Yadav's story surfaced on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week, sparking a chain of similar horrific events around the world. The then 74-year-old man said a unicorn-like horn began to grow on his head after he hit his head.

But his hairdresser helped him "keep it under control" by cutting it, so he ignored it until it started to harden and thicken, resulting in him being compared to the comic book hero Hellboy. Doctors said the growth, called sebaceous horn, is made of keratin, the same material found in toenails and human hair.

In 2019, neurosurgeons in India removed the Yadava growth with a sterile razor, similar to a large pair of nail clippers.

The cause of the horns is unknown, but it is believed that they may be caused by exposure to radiation or sunlight.

In another similar case, an elderly woman named Liang Xiuzhen was nicknamed the "Rhinoceros Woman" after the same bizarre growth grew out of the middle of her head.

It all started with the appearance of a black mole, but in two years it turned into a finger-sized mass and eventually grew to 13 cm in length.

Doctors in Sichuan Province, China, diagnosed "skin horn" — a keratinized skin tumor that looks like a horn.

Often small and benign neoplasms in some cases can be much larger and malignant.

Elsewhere, a skin horn almost 8 cm long and 6 cm wide appeared on the arm of a 102-year-old woman from Japan, and some grew out of the ears and genital area.

Meanwhile, another pensioner suffered excruciating pain after three hard, rough growths resembling large nails appeared on the sole of her foot.

According to VisionaryVoid on X:

• The very first case of cutaneous horn was recorded in 1588 in an elderly Welsh woman named Marguerite Griffith.
• Skin horns can be found in different areas of the body, but according to a 2010 study, they are most often present in areas exposed to the sun, such as the face and head.
• Other areas where a cutaneous horn can be found include the upper extremities, chest, shoulders, ears, hands, scalp and lips.