LOOK: The Unicorn Woman and other people with horns

No, it’s not the name of a rock band. Nor is it a superhero team. Apparently, in China, there have been cases of people sprouting horns.

Making the news recently is an 87-year-old woman from Guiyan, Sichuan province. The old lady is suffering from a large horn-shaped growth that formed on her forehead. It supposedly started out as a black mole eight years prior, but now, it’s grown to an alarming 5 inches.

Doctors believe it is a cutaneous horn, a growth made out of compacted keratin, the same substance that makes up hair and finger nails. It can be surgically removed, but the old woman’s family is hesitant about having her go under the knife because of her age. As such, the old woman is now seeking alternative treatment for her affliction.

Also seeking treatment for what might be a similar condition is a man from Hubei province. In the case of 62-year-old Li Zhibing, his horn has been growing on his neck for thirty years now. Twice a year, he says he uses a saw to trim the horn down to a nub. If it grows long, it apparently becomes itchy and he develops a fever.

Though it proves to be nothing more than an inconvenience, it gets in the way of his washing his hair and putting on clothes, as of last year, Li had been looking for remedies to address the growth, saying he wishes to avoid the shock expressed by others when they first notice his horn.

Meanwhile in 2010, “Devil Horns Grandmother” was making headlines and heads turn. In 2009, the then 100-year-old Zhang Ruifang from Linlou, Eastern China reported that a horn was beginning to sprout out of the left side of her forehead. It grew to about 6 cm. long. A year later, doctors found that another horn was beginning to form, this time on the right side.

Though it was a nuisance at first, the old woman had difficulties finding a comfortable sleeping position, the attention brought by the oddity changed the old woman’s opinion of the horns.

“…now I get people visiting me all the time bringing me food and gifts and asking to take my picture. I had some doctors who said they would cut it off for free but I told them no.” The old woman was quoted as saying.