Self-embedding by young reported

CHICAGO - Some troubled teenagers are embedding nails, paper clips, bits of rock, glass and even crayons in their bodies as a way to cope with disturbing thoughts and feelings, US researchers said yesterday.

They described cases in which teens had forced numerous objects into their arms, hands, feet, ankles, and necks in a condition they call self-embedding disorder, a step beyond more common forms of self-mutilation.

Dr. William Shiels, chief of radiology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, presented the findings at the Radiological Society of North America meeting.

"It's cutting gone to the next level," Shiels said.

Self injury can include cutting of the skin, burning, bruising, hair pulling, breaking bones or swallowing toxic substances.

Some studies suggest that 13 to 24 percent of high school students have practiced deliberate self-injury at least once.

REUTERS