KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — A 20-year-old Swiss man was hospitalised for three days after he experienced breathlessness and chest pain while masturbating.
By the time the unidentified man got himself into the hospital’s emergency room, his face was swollen and crunching noises were coming from his neck down to his arms, Daily Star reported.
Quoting medical journal, Radiology Case Reports, it stated that the man had suffered a rare lung injury usually caused by vigorous exercise or violent coughing and was required to spend three days and a night in the ICU at Cantonal Hospital in Winterthur.
The man was diagnosed as suffering from ‘spontaneous’ pneumomediastinum (SPM) where air escaped from his lung and lodged in his ribcage.
The trapped air spread around his body and even made its way up to his skull.
Doctors said in extreme cases, it could lead to collapsed lungs.
The ‘unusual’ case is believed to be the first to be caused by masturbation.
Doctors treating the man 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.”
The patient, however, denied taking drugs or smoking and confirmed he was not participating in any strenuous exercise, or suffering from cough prior to the injury so the case has been labelled ‘spontaneous’.
