Self-embedding is a form of self-injury where foreign objects are inserted underneath the skin, and left either for a limited period of time or permanently.

History

As early as 1936 the phenomenon was recorded when the child murderer Albert Fish

Albert Fish

Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was an American serial killer. He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac and The Boogey Man. A child rapist and cannibal, he boasted that he "had children in every state," and at one time put the figure at...

 was caught and executed. An X-ray of his pelvis revealed about 27 or 29 needles inserted into his groin; the image was used as evidence at his trial.

In 2008, some teenagers were found in a study to be using this as a more extreme form of self-injury. The trend was first discovered by radiologists.