A man was hospitalised after suffering a ‘freak injury’ while masturbating.
The 20-year-old man from Switzerland spent four days in hospital after suffering from breathlessness and chest pain as he performed the solo sex act. By the time he arrived at the hospital, his face was swollen and crunching noises were coming from his neck down to his arms.
The medical journal Radiology Case Reports explained that the unnamed man had suffered from a rare lung injury usually caused by rigorous exercise or violent coughing.
The doctors diagnosed him with ‘spontaneous’ pneumomediastinum (SPM), as the air had escaped from his lung and became lodged in his ribcage. The case is believed to be the first caused by masturbation.
Medics said: “Predisposing factors are a history of smoking, acute asthma and recreational drug use (especially cocaine and heroin). Except for a history of mild, non-acute asthma, no inciting factors were noticed in our patient.
“There are only a few reports of SPM related to sexual activity and we could not find any cases associated with autoeroticism, which makes our case unusual.”
