Diagnosis: nail gun caused headache


12 nails found in the man's skull, he suffered no lasting effects -- other than the fact he's an idiot!


An Oregon man who went to a hospital complaining of a headache was found to have 12 nails embedded in his skull from a suicide attempt with a nail gun, doctors say.

Surgeons removed the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill, and the man survived with no serious lasting effects, according to a report on the medical oddity in the current issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.

The unidentified 33-year-old man was suicidal and high on methamphetamine last year when he fired the nails — up to 2 inches in length — into his head one by one.

No one before is known to have survived after intentionally firing so many foreign objects into the head, according to the report, written by Dr. G. Alexander West, the neurosurgeon who oversaw the treatment of the patient.

The man at first told doctors he had had a nail gun accident, but later admitted it was a suicide attempt.

The patient was later transferred to psychiatric care and stayed under court order for nearly a month before leaving against doctors’ orders.

Rock on!

Posted: Sat - April 22, 2006 at 07:55 AM