Doctors warn about worrying rise in DIY penis implants which could lead to fatal infections

Doctors have reported a worrying increase in the number of men performing DIY penis implants.
They say a worrying trend has emerged of men using objects such as melted toothpaste caps, buttons, dice, and deodorant roller ball to 'extend' their manhood. 
Rather than lengthen the penis, it's thought the idea is to create a different sensation.

 

Doctors have reported a worrying trend of male prisoners using melted toothpaste caps, buttons, dice, and deodorant roller ball to 'extend' their manhood

Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia discovered the phenomenon after nurses documented several cases of male prisoners with skin infections on their genitals, reports The Atlantic.
They said these infections were a consequence of foreign objects inserted under the skin of the penis.

 

To check whether this really was the case, the researchers questioned prisoners in correctional institutes in the Queensland and New South Wales area. 
The survey, which was the basis of research published recently in the leading journal PloS One, revealed that around six per cent of men had an implant - the vast majority of which had been inserted while they were in prison.

Researchers discovered the phenomenon after nurses documented several cases of male prisoners with skin infections on their genitals

They also found the implants were more common in younger people, meaning they are probably increasing in incidence, the study's lead author Basil Donovan, told the magazine.
The methods of insertion are eye-watering. Another paper published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine discussed three prisoners who had placed carved domino pieces under their skin.
One of them had apparently implanted the domino with an incision made with the tip of a ballpoint pen.
Aside from any physical discomfort of an implant, the researchers warned that DIY implants have serious health implications due to the risk of wound infection and blood borne viruses. 
'Clearly since they don't have access to sterilised scalpel blades, or even disposable scalpel blades, there's got to be a risk, as a minimum, of local wound infection,' said Professor Donovan.
'They also wouldn't have access to suture materials, so they would probably tape it [the wound] over with sticky tape, or something.'
And despite the common claim that penile inserts increase a partner's sexual pleasure, The Journal of Sexual Medicine found this is rarely the case. 
Inserts were more likely to cause discomfort for partners and and make condoms less effective.