For most men, injuring their penis during sex is a nightmare scenario.
One man had to endure such an event, when his partner decided to nibble on his private parts during a blowjob – a seemingly harmless act that had disastrous results.
The teeth nicked the delicate tissue, known as mucosa, on the head of the unnamed 43-year-old man’s penis (also called the glans) and soon enough, the skin started to change colour.
Unfortunately, the innocent bite caused a serious infection, which made the man’s skin start rotting. Ouch.
Five days later, the pain had intensified and the wound turned black – which signifies that the part where the infection had taken hold has caused the skin to become necrotic.
In other words, it had died.
At this point, he – understandably – rushed to A&E.
The incident was published in the Visual Journal of Emergency Medicine last week, and includes a photo of a three centimetre wound, in the shape of two round black marks, one larger than the other, but clearly visible on the head of the penis.
Holding on to your penis for dear life yet and thanking your lucky stars no one has nibbled on your junk?
The man didn’t lose his gangrenous limb – and luckily it hadn’t spread throughout his body (which is known as a systemic infection), which could have been a much more dangerous scenario.
To stop the flesh-eating infection, he was put in hospital and given intravenous antibiotics, which did the trick.
A month later, after having been prescribed oral antibiotics, doctors assessed his dick, which was back to its pink glory.
However, he did suffer ‘minimal glans penis deformity’, but we’re fairly certain that beats having a life-threatening infection spread through your body.
The report also revealed that many men who are bitten on their nether regions don’t go to the doctor straight away, which can allow the germs to fester.
‘As in this case, patients who are bitten on the penis often do not seek immediate medical care, and the disease process often progresses,’ the report by Mark Zosky, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, reads.
‘Progression to skin ulceration and infection is common and requires careful wound care and antibiotic therapy. In rare cases, bites can lead to life threatening infectious such as Fournier’s gangrene that require emergent surgical treatment.’
So, does this mean you should never allow teeth near your genitals?
‘It’s about using common sense,’ Dr Sarah Welsh, gynaecology doctor and co-founder of HANX, tells Metro.co.uk.
‘A little bit of grazing can be fine and normal, but it’s a sensitive area of the body so if it becomes painful or you see any signs of the skin breaking, get it seen to. A little bit of teeth is not the end of the world.
‘If you do get a graze or a cut look out for signs of infection, such as redness, pain and puss. Ideally, you don’t want to break the skin at all, so there’s always a risk if you use teeth.
‘Don’t cause trauma to the surface of the skin, seek medical advice if it happens and get antibiotics.
‘Similarly, for women, if you get a lesion or laceration on your genitals, look out for signs of infection, redness, swelling or pain. However, it tends to be more difficult to properly “bite” this area, because of their anatomy.
‘As a general rule for both sexes, if it’s painful: stop what you’re doing.’
And in case you fancy taking a look at the blackened, necrotic penis… here you go.
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