Penile injury ― this is damage to the genital organ, which is characterized by a violation of its full functionality due to the impact of a traumatic factor. In cases of injury to the genitals of a man, it is the penis that accounts for the most damage — 50%. Damage to the penis is combined with damage to both testicles only in 2% of cases. According to statistics, most often damage to the male penis occurs in the area of the foreskin, cavernous bodies and the head.
The content of the article:
Types of penile injuries
Symptoms of penile injury
Diagnosis of penile injuries
Treatment of penile injuries
Penile injuries
Types of penile injuries
Injuries of a man’s penis can be of two types — closed and open. Closed are called such injuries in which the outer cover of the penis remains intact, open are called such injuries in which the integrity of the skin is violated. Closed injuries of the penis include various deformities, in particular an inflection and fracture of the penis. This deviation may occur due to violent, rather rude sexual acts or from strong blows with a heavy blunt object directly on the penis.
Also, urologists refer to injuries of the closed type as bruises of the genital organ. With bruises of the penis, massive hemorrhages may appear in the skin of the genital organ and in the subcutaneous tissue. This whole process is accompanied by significant edema. Bruises are a fairly common type of genital injury. Very often bruises occur during sports, horseback riding and cycling, as well as in fights — due to a direct blow to the penis. Light bruises of the penis may be accompanied by mild painful sensations that subside within a couple of minutes after the blow. More severe injuries are accompanied by a noticeable tear of the protein membrane, increased pain and swelling of the penis; subcutaneous hematomas are formed, giving the penis a bluish color, walking is difficult, the normal process of urination is disrupted. Strong blows to the genital organ can lead to a fracture of the cavernous body and the immediate development of extensive internal bleeding.
In the event of an internal rupture of the cavernous bodies of the penis, hematomas of enormous size appear, this is due to the fact that blood accumulates under the skin of the penis or in the subcutaneous tissue. The hematoma can spread very deep into the thickness of the scrotum, and can also move to the pubis and to the inner part of the thigh.
Open-type penis injuries often occur as a result of the mechanical impact of piercing and cutting objects, as well as animal bites or overly active actions of a sexual partner. When applying stab or cut wounds, the damage is accompanied by severe bleeding.
The most common causes of injury to the penis is the infringement of the skin on the penis by an iron zipper lock on men’s trousers. It should be noted that despite the small wounds due to such injuries, the man feels quite a lot of pain. In order not to touch such a painful wound once again during desperate attempts to open the clamped zipper lock, it is recommended to simply cut the zipper below the tightly clamped skin of the penis, so the zipper of the trousers will open on its own.
Another common cause of damage to a man’s penis is considered excessive friction during sexual contact. Such problems often arise in overly passionate lovers, as well as in teenagers who have started a sexual life. At the same time, skin damage and ruptures of the foreskin fold are observed. Men who have a short penis frenulum from birth, during an active sexual act, may encounter a rupture or partial rupture of the frenulum on the penis, which is accompanied by severe pain and bleeding.
There is also such a peculiar injury of the penis as infringement of the genital organ with a thread, thin wire or cord. In children, such injuries are the result of a banal prank, in adults, as a rule, it is the result of masturbation and attempts to maintain an erection for a long time.
Dislocation of the genital organ occurs due to the rupture of ligaments, with the help of which the penis is fixed directly to the bones of the pelvis of a man. With this injury to the penis, the cavernous bodies shift under the skin of the thigh, scrotum or perineum, and the penis itself is in a state of an empty sagging skin sac.
In the most unfortunate cases, a man is faced with a penis fracture. A fracture of this vital organ most often occurs if, during aggressive sexual contact, the penis does not fall directly into the woman’s vagina, but with the application of force it hits the pelvic bones or the thigh of the sexual partner. With a fracture of the penis, a click is heard, after which the genital organ acquires a dark blue or even black hue, which is explained by hemorrhage.
In the cold season, frostbite of the genital organ is not uncommon. The cause of this damage may be general hypothermia of the body, urination in the cold and prolonged exposure to the cold in a state of alcoholic intoxication. Frostbite, as a rule, in most cases, the foreskin is exposed, much less often — directly the body of the genital organ. As a result of receiving such an injury, part of the skin on the frostbitten area becomes purple-blue, burning, tingling, itching, paresthesia and swelling occur. With a mild degree of frostbite, all these phenomena disappear independently after a few days. In severe cases, tissues begin to die off on frostbitten areas of the skin, deep purulent ulcers appear, which will take several months to heal.
Bitten injuries have the form of lacerations of the penis, may appear as a result of an animal bite or rash actions of a sexual partner. Despite the fact that the size of the affected area is small and bleeding is scarce, penile bites are always infected, so such wounds have a long regeneration. Bites inflicted by animals carry the risk of rabies infection. That is why the patient is vaccinated against rabies first, and then the treatment process begins.
Attempts to stretch the penis in order to increase the size can also lead to injury to the cavernous bodies . Consultations with a sex therapist and a psychiatrist in this case are mandatory procedures.
Symptoms of penile injury
The symptoms of genital injuries are always different and directly depend on the severity of the type of injury. However, there are certain symptoms that are observed with any penis injury:
pain of varying strength;
edema of varying intensity;
hematomas are rare or numerous;
bleeding of varying severity is possible;
macrohematuria and microhematuria;
urethrorrhagia;
difficulty urinating and its delay.
As for the characteristic symptoms, then, for example, bruises of the genital organ are characterized by quite sharp pain, swelling and significant noticeable hematomas on the skin.
With fractures of the reproductive organ, a crunch is always heard, after which a sharp pain appears, and the erection immediately stops. Then the strongest edema develops rapidly with an incredibly large hematoma, and, as a result, the penis increases in size and turns blue in a matter of minutes.
With dislocations of the male genital organ, its root is displaced in the perineal tissue or in the scrotum tissue. In this case, there may be a separation of the skin of the body from the head of the penis, which looks like a scalping of the penis.
Symptoms of infringement of the genital organ directly depend on the strength of the infringement, as well as on the duration of compression. In the case of this injury, the penis may get a slight swelling, and in severe cases, such a minor injury may result in gangrene of a vital organ.
Gunshot wounds of the penis, as a rule, are accompanied by powerful bleeding, which does not fully correspond to the size of the wound and the depth of the damage. Against the background of severe bleeding, there is a violation of urination. With gunshot wounds, foreign bodies may remain in the penis, which causes acute unbearable pain during erection.
The symptoms of stab wounds directly depend on the depth of the damage. After an open-type injury of a stab-cut nature, cavernitis may develop. Also, complications include skin scarring, which fix the genital organ in a vicious position, as well as scarring changes in the cavernous bodies, which deform the penis and disrupt its normal erection. But the most significant complication with injuries of this kind is considered to be a violation of the stricture of the urethra.
In the case of open damage to the penis, urination is very painful and can lead to delays. In the most dangerous cases, it is possible to develop urinary infiltration of nearby tissues lying to damage.
It is clear that with all types of the above injuries, a man will have a state of shock, as a result of which severe depression and even psychological trauma can develop.
Diagnosis of penile injuries
Diagnosis of genital injuries is carried out by a urologist, surgeon or traumatologist. It is based on a thorough collection of anamnesis. When collecting detailed information, great attention should be paid to the factors that caused damage to the penis.
In most cases, the diagnosis of male genital injuries is not difficult, since an experienced urologist will be able to determine blueness and excessive swelling of the genital organ already at the initial visual examination.
When diagnosing a penis injury, it is sometimes necessary to differentiate injuries of the protein membrane of the penis and the urethra in a timely manner.
In difficult cases, when the patient does not have the opportunity to independently tell about the circumstances of the injury, in order to detect damage, examinations using auxiliary means of medical imaging can be prescribed. Such specialized tools include:
Cavernosography: is a standard X-ray examination that allows you to detect a fracture and other damage to the cavernous bodies of the genital organ; magnetic resonance imaging;
urethrography: a study that allows you to completely confirm or exclude damage to the urethra and determine the prevalence of present penis injury.
Treatment of penile injuries
The main obstacle in the treatment of penis injuries is the hesitation and doubt of a man about going to a doctor for medical help. This is very stupid, because the further reproductive function and sexual life of the patient directly depends on timely assistance. Men who are not able to overcome shyness on their own need to know that after receiving injuries to the genital organ, the real chances of maintaining potency in the case of immediate surgical intervention are 100%. But without adequate help, the chance of getting impotence is 60%.
First aid after receiving a genital injury consists in immediately applying a cool aseptic bandage to the site of the lesion. In case of open-type injuries, immediate treatment of the wound on the genital organ, removal of necrotic penis tissues and restoration of the protein membrane is required.
In case of complete amputation of the penis due to mechanical damage, it is extremely important to put the torn organ in ice beforehand, since it is possible to sew the organ during the day. Wounds to the penis and foreskin may require suturing or circumcision of the damaged foreskin.
Most serious injuries and injuries of the penis are treated only by surgical intervention. Moreover, after many penile injuries, in addition to the main operations, plastic surgery will also be required.
In case of any injuries, it is necessary to conduct a study of the genitourinary system as a whole, which is done in order to exclude other severe internal injuries.
Treatment of simple bruises of the genital organ includes complete rest and wait-and-see tactics. In the first day, the application of cold compresses and ice, as well as the usual non-steroidal analgesics, will help a man. In case of the development of extensive hematomas, surgical removal of blood clots and surgical suturing of the protein membrane that has been injured is mandatory.
If the urethra is damaged, it is necessary to restore it, resume patency and adequate excretion of urine. In the process of treating bruises of the genital organ, means are used that accompany the short-term prevention of elective function, as well as antibacterial preventive therapy.
If you follow all the doctor’s recommendations, then after 3-5 days after receiving a bruise, the hematoma will gradually resolve.
Today there is no specific method of preventing damage and mechanical injuries of the penis, but every man himself must understand the seriousness of the consequences that entail such damage.
However, one of the possible options for specific prevention of injury to the male penis during sexual contacts can be considered avoiding dangerous positions that can cause a strong inflection of the penis. It would be wise to make sexual contacts less aggressive and more deliberate. It is also necessary to treat sports with caution — to provide specialized protection to the sexual organ. When working at production facilities (especially when working with rotating sharp machines), safety precautions should be followed. Do not neglect your health, and if at least one of the above symptoms occurs, immediately seek help, because your reproductive function and health in general depend on it. Men who have experienced trauma to the genital organ are recommended to be monitored by a urologist and visit him at least once every three months.
