A MAN WHO devised his own “cure” for his back pain was taken to hospital where doctors discovered he’d been injecting himself with his own semen. 

A new report in the Irish Medical Journal highlights how the case is the first reported where semen injection was used as a medical treatment.

The 33-year-old man presented to doctors complaining of severe, sudden onset lower back pain. He said he’d lifted a heavy steel object three days previously and his symptoms had progressed.

He had a history of back pain and, following a physical examination, it was discovered he had an erythematous papule – a piece of abnormal skin tissue – on one of his arms.

He then disclosed that he had intravenously injected his own semen as an “innovative” method of treating back pain.

The man had devised this independent of medical advice, and had injected one monthly “dose” of semen for 18 months in a row using a needle he’d purchased online. 

When presenting to doctors, he had injected three of these doses intra-vascularly and intra-muscularly.

After treatment in hospital, the patient’s back pain improved but he discharged himself without availing of an incision and draining of the collection that had built up around that section of his arm.

Dr Lisa Dunne, from Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Tallaght, wrote in her study that she surveyed medical literature and information around the internet for reports of injecting semen to treat back pain. 

“There were no cases of intravenous semen injection into humans found across the literature,” she said. “A search of more eclectic internet sites and forums found no other documentation of semen injection for back pain treatment or other uses.”

Dr Dunne added that while this is a unique case, it does demonstrated the dangers when someone untrained in medicine devises their own cures and injects themselves with a substance. 

She added: “The case also demonstrates the risks involved with medical experimentation prior to extensive clinical research in the form of phased trials inclusive of safety and efficacy assessments.”