An eye-watering tale to make every man squirm… 44-year-old gets an agonising blood clot in his penis after going for a ‘prolonged’ run
- The unknown man from Slovakia suffered from painful erections for two days
- Medics who treated him said he had a partial segmental thrombosis
A man was left in terror after going for a run because a blood clot developed in his penis.
In a medical story guaranteed to make all men squirm, doctors revealed the 44-year-old developed a painful lump on his member the day after a ‘prolonged’ jog.
The man, an amateur marathon runner, also complained of getting erections at night.
Yet he did not seek help for two days, according to Slovak medics who shared his eye-opening story in a diary.
Scans showed he had a clot in his corpus cavernosum, two spongy tubes that run through the penis and fill with blood to make men erect.
The phenomenon has only been reported a few dozen times in the literature.
Doctors shared gory details of the incident in a medical journal, telling how the unidentified 44-year-old endured two days of painful erections overnight despite not having sex before seeking medical help. They said the corpora cavernosa – the tissue chambers in his penis – were stiff, but the tip was flaccid
Although the man’s symptoms have subsided, checks showed he still had the clot three years later.
Doctors at Bory Hospital in Bratislava said the man, who was not identified, had “firm, painful and firm resistance” in his right corpus cavernosa.
He was rushed for an emergency MRI scan, which revealed he had an 18mm wide blood clot.
Doctors prescribed him daily blood thinners and painkillers.
A week later his pain had subsided.
However, the clot was still present and he was given daily injections of a drug that prevents clots from growing or breaking off and going to the lungs, which can be life-threatening.
MRI scans both one and six months later showed that the clot had shrunk in size.
However, checks three years later still detected the clot.
But the man had no symptoms and was able to get an erection, doctors said.
Writing in the diary Urological case reportsDoctors said they were aware of only 56 cases of clots in the corpora cavernosa reported in the medical literature.
It was most common in men under 30 years of age, with microtrauma to the tissue often the cause.
Sports, ‘vigorous sexual activity’, drug and alcohol abuse or medical conditions including Sickle cell anemia and thrombophilia are among other common causes, they wrote.
The medics said treatment with painkillers and anticoagulant medications produces similar results to surgery.
Blood clotting is when blood clots and forms a clot. It is this process that stops bleeding after a cut or injury.
However, it can be dangerous if clots form in the veins. Those who are overweight, smoke or are immobile are at greatest risk.
Counterintuitively, intense and prolonged running – such as that performed for marathon training – can also lead to clots, usually in the legs.
This could be due to inactivity after exercise, injury caused by repetitive strain on tissue and dehydration, which can cause the blood to thicken, experts say.