During Christmas season, the risk of penile fractures goes up: Study

It's That Time of the Year.. when it's all festive and Christmas-y. People across the world enjoy being with their family and friends.

But doctors have warned that the festive period is also linked to a significantly increased risk of penile fractures.

Experts have previously said that penile fracture is an injury that happens only to an erect penis that is bent forcefully. Surgery is the preferred treatment.

The study has been published in the December edition of the British Journal of Urology International.

As quoted by The Guardian, Dr Nikolaos Pyrgides, a urologist at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, who led the research, said: "This injury tends to occur during wild sex – particularly in positions where you're not in direct eye contact [with your partner], such as the reverse cowgirl."

Urologists at the Ludwig Maximilian University have said that penile fractures are considered a medical emergency and are "often heralded by an audible crack followed by severe pain".

According to them, such injuries are caused by "a forceful bending of the erect penis during aggressive sexual intercourse featuring unusual sexual positions (eg 'reverse cowgirl')".

The doctors have added that they may experience a rapid loss of erection, swelling and bruising, besides the "audible crack" and "severe pain".

The team of urologists have probed whether the incidence of penile fractures increased during Christmas using German hospital data for 3,421 men who sustained such injuries between 2005 and 2021.

Covid didn't impact hospital admissions for such injuries

They found that such fractures increased during the festive period.They added, "If every day was like Christmas, 43% more penile fractures would have occurred in Germany from 2005 onwards."

The doctors have found that penile fractures also increased during weekends and over the summer.

The cases didn't increase during New Year's Eve, maybe because New Year's Eve is not as widely celebrated in Germany as Christmas, the authors of the study said.

The researchers also added that hospital admissions for the injury were unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.

The study found that the average age for penile fractures among men was 42and penile fractures "occur most likely during sex in unconventional scenarios" such as in extramarital affairs or "unusual locations".

The study added, "Even though we cannot, of course, recommend against having sex during these periods, our findings ring the alarm bell (and not the jingle bells)."