Man, 33, injected his SEMEN into his own arm for 18 months 'to treat back pain', bizarre medical case report reveals

January 17, 2019 23:44

A man has baffled doctors by injecting himself with his own semen in a bizarre attempt to try and cure his back pain.

The 33-year-old, who was admitted to a hospital in Dublin, had been injecting himself with his own ejaculate for a year-and-a-half before medics found out.

When he visited the doctor complaining of severe pain in his lower back, they noticed a red rash and swelling in his forearm.

His right arm had become infected with cellulitis as a result of the bizarre habit, which the medical report described as 'dangerous'.

'He had devised this "cure" independent of any medical advice,' Dr Lisa Dunne wrote in a case report in the Irish Medical Journal.

'He revealed he had injected one monthly "dose" of semen for 18 consecutive months using a hypodermic needle which had been purchased online.'

Needless to say, the semen injections did not cure his back pain – which worsened after he lifted a heavy steel object – but his condition improved after a short hospital stay.

The man discharged himself from the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in the Republic of Ireland's capital, before doctors had a chance to remove the semen.

Dr Dunne said the man's case, in which the semen leaked into his soft tissue because of the botched injections, is believed to be the first of its kind.

He had 'failed multiple attempts at injecting the bodily fluid,' she wrote, in what he called an 'innovative method to treat back pain'.

Dr Dunne explained there have never been any tests on the effects of injecting semen into human veins or muscles.

She admitted people have been recorded to have injected substances like petrol and lighter fluid in suicide attempts, but it was rare to try and self-medicate this way.

Learning about his case could provide lessons 'on a broader scale', her report said.

'The dangers of [injections] when carried out by the untrained layperson are highlighted as well as the vascular and soft tissue hazards surrounding the attempted injection of substances not intended for intravenous use.

'The case also demonstrates the risks involved with medical experimentation prior to extensive clinical research'.

The only past examples of semen injections noted in the journal – which could feasibly have inspired the misguided man – were experiments done by injecting human ejaculate into rats and rabbits.

In this research, done in 1945, found injecting human semen into female rats and rabbits 'yields completely negative results'.