Drunk Men Inject Penises With Cream After Watching YouTube Enlargement Video
Two men who got drunk and injected their penises with cream in the hope it would make their genitals bigger were instead left with painful swelling, according to the doctors who treated them.
The unnamed men—aged 30 and 32 years old, respectively—were drinking and discussing how they wished they had bigger penises. They then searched on YouTube for tutorials on how to achieve this.
The friends subsequently injected each other's penises in a number of areas with an entire 30g tube of anti-hematoma cream, according to a letter to the editor of the Annales de Dermatologie et de Vénéréologie journal that documented their cases. Hematoma cream is designed to treat conditions where blood collects outside of the blood vessels.
Over the course of the night, the men's penises gradually became more painful and swollen. Hours after injecting the cream, the pair visited a hospital's emergency dermatology department in the French city of Strasbourg. The pair were suffering from a condition known as penile edema, where the organ swells.
Doctors examined the men and found they had what were described as "enlarged oedematous penises," where excess fluid builds up in an area. The doctors also discovered the sites where the men had injected their genitals. The penises were "firm and painful" to the touch, according to the medics.
The team advised the men to rest, take painkillers and come back for a follow-up appointment. Unfortunately, the doctors wrote, the men did not return.
The doctors said that injecting one's penis is an old practice, and people can be motivated by a range of factors, including low self-esteem about size, or in the belief it will boost their sexual performance.
Others may inject their penis at what are known as chemsex parties, where people take drugs to enhance sex. As well as cream, people have also been known to use substances such as petroleum jelly, cod liver oil, mineral oils, silicone, the anabolic steroid nandrolone, and paraffin.
Most often, as was the case in the men in France, complications include pain and fluid retention, but there have also been reports of patients developing ulcers, abscesses, and gangrene.
Injecting the penis can destroy the shaft of the organ and cause erectile dysfunction, the doctors said.
The doctors wrote: "Physicians and patients should be aware of the risks of these practices, since they are becoming more frequent due to the presence of online tutorials. More information is needed to alert subjects to the possibility of long-term and irrevocable complications."
Men who are worried about their penis size should talk to a health professional before trying treatments, professor Kevan Wylie, a sexual medicine consultant, told the U.K.'s National Health Service website.
Wylie, who was not involved with treating the men, said: "Many men who worry about the size of their penis generally have overall body image issues. What happens is that they tend to focus their poor body image on their penis.
"Often, counseling can make a real difference to the patient by building self-esteem, correcting distorted views about body image and learning more about what makes people attractive."
