GROWING PROBLEM Botched penis enlargement epidemic hits Papua New Guinea as docs warn 500 have injected todgers with coconut oil

April 12, 2019 22:30

DOCTORS in Papua New Guinea have warned of a botched penis enlargement plague, as over 500 men are treated in a nationwide epidemic.

In order to make themselves bigger, men in the country have had foreign substances like coconut oil, cooking oil and silicone injected into their penises.

The Guardian reports that over the last two years, at least 500 men in the country have been treated for penile disfigurement and dysfunction after attempting penis enlargement.

The injections are reportedly being performed by health workers - mainly male nurses making extra money on the side.

Side effects are serious and often irreversible - according to doctors many men have come to the hospital with "lumpy masses" on their penises and ulcers that eventually burst open.

Akule Danlop, a surgeon at Port Moresby General, the country's largest hospital, said he has operated on close to 90 men who had been injected with foreign substances.

He said: "I have seen five new cases every week for the past two years and these are the ones that have come forward for treatment.

"I saw seven today."

"The bulk of them have abnormal, lumpy masses growing over the penis and sometimes the scrotum.

"Some of them have difficulty urinating because the foreskin is so swollen it cannot contract."

Danlop added that some men have had trouble getting erections after surgery and that most of the men he has seen regret what they have done.

Danlop is the only surgeon in Papua New Guinea who can operate and treat these cases - he said the situation is "frustrating" because he could be using his time to treat other people who deserve help, like cancer patients.

Though the men presenting at the hospital are generally aged between 18-40, men between the ages of 16 and 55 have been treated.

Danlop added: "There are guys who are in respectable jobs like working at law firms.

"It's right across Papua New Guinea, not just in the capital."

Glen Mola, a professor of reproductive health, obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Papua New Guinea, said lots of men are being "conned" into the practice.

He said: "I don't think it's particularly a PNG thing.

"In every society, adolescents and young men have a thing about their penis.

"Lots of young men are sustaining quite serious injuries.