"Self-embedding" is a form of teen self-harm in which teens injure themselves by forcing objects such as paper clips, staples and glass under the skin and into soft tissue. Other more widely known types of teen self-harm include cutting, burning and hair-pulling.
Between 13% and 24% of teenagers have histories of cutting themselves or self-embedding.
- Hospital radiologists are often the first to spot self-embedding , because they have to x-ray and locate the objects.
- Dr. William Schiels recently completed a new study of 600 pediatric patients who were being treated for embedded objects in their bodies at Nationwide Children's Hospital. The vast majority had been in accidents.
- However, nine girls and two boys, all teenagers, had 76 objects in their arms, ankles, feet, and hands that they had forced below their skin.
- Dr. Schiels said that self-embedding is not a suicidal act, but it can lead to dangerous infections. Teenagers with such behaviors should be evaluated by mental health professionals.
The study appears in the journal Radiology.
Labels: self-harm, cutting, embedding
Posted By: Aspen Education Group