After a bizarre mishap while masturbating, a 20-year-old man was sent to the hospital.
The unnamed Swiss patient sustained a rare lung injury that is usually induced by strenuous exercise or strong coughing spells.
As doctors worked to ease the anguish caused by trapped air, he spent a night in the ICU and three days in the hospital.
After experiencing abrupt chest pain and breathlessness while lying in bed, the man rushed to A&E. His face had enlarged by the time he arrived, and crunching noises could be heard from his neck down to his arms.
He had’spontaneous’ pneumomediastinum (SPM), which occurs when air leaks from the lung and becomes trapped in the ribcage. The case was published in the Radiology Case Reports publication.
The cause of the injury is unknown, although it is most common among young males, according to the researchers.
The trapped air had traveled throughout his body, even up to his head in his case. It can result in a collapsed lung in more severe cases.
There have been a few cases documented during sex but none during masturbation.
The patient’s case was described as “strange” by doctors at the Cantonal Hospital in Winterthur.
The patient presented to the hospital with’severe’ shortness of breath, claiming that it began with a sharp chest discomfort while masturbating.
He had minor, untreated asthma and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to his medical history (ADHD).
An X-ray revealed that he had’significant’ volumes of trapped air in his mediastinum, the space between the lung sacs in the chest, also known as pneumomediastinum.
Air had apparently gotten into other portions of his body,’reaching up until the base of the skull,’ according to the doctor.
Doctors noticed that his face had enlarged and that when they touched their fingers on his neck, chest, and arms, they heard cracking sounds.
The patient denied using drugs or smoking, and claimed he didn’t have a cough or engage in vigorous activity, making his illness “spontaneous.”
He was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), where he was given oxygen, paracetamol, and antibiotics to reduce his risk of infection.
He was shifted to a general ward after his health improved overnight, but his chest pain persisted for three more days.
His condition was declared ‘uncomplicated’ and he was discharged on the fourth day.
‘Predisposing factors are history of smoking, severe asthma, and recreational drug use,’ the doctors wrote in the paper (especially cocaine and heroin).
‘Our patient had no triggering factors other than a history of mild, non-acute asthma.’
‘There are just a few instances of SPM linked to sexual activity, and we couldn’t locate any cases linked to autoeroticism,’ says the researcher.