What is a penile fracture?
Men and people with penises do not have a bone in the penis. Rather, erection hardness is maintained by blood flooding two balloon-like tubes, called the corpora cavernosa in the penis. This stretches their outer wrapping – called the tunica albuginea – making it taut and, as a result, the penis becomes erect and hard.
A penile fracture is not the same as breaking a bone. Instead, it is a tear in the tunica albuginea (and sometimes the corpora cavernosa as well) that typically occurs when there is sudden trauma or bending of the penis when erect.
Penile fracture causes
The most common cause is trauma during intercourse. Rough sex does not necessarily make the risk of penile fracture greater. However, some sexual positions can increase the risk or penile fracture, with the cowgirl position – or the woman on top – being the most commonly reported cause of penile fracture, due to the penis being rocked backward or forwards too far with the full weight of the woman on it.
The cowgirl position accounts as the cause for more than half of penile fracture injuries.
Research published in Advances in Urology (which looked at patients who attended A&E with suspected penile fractures over a 13-year period) also revealed that “doggy style” sex – vaginal penetration from behind – was responsible for roughly a quarter of injuries, while 15 per cent were attributed to masturbation.
It also found that penile fractures were more common in heterosexual intercourse, accounting for 64 per cent of reported injuries, compared to only 9 per cent from gay sex. The remaining incidents were sustained through a combination of “penis manipulation” and “unclear circumstances”.
Other possible situations where penile fracture may occur include rolling over in bed onto an erect penis, hitting an erect penis and over-vigorous masturbation.
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