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It’s no secret that sex can involve props. But for some, the pursuit of pleasure with the help of aids can result in an embarrassing trip to the hospital.
A 53-year-old Colombian man recently sought medical treatment after experiencing pain in his behind.
Doctors were stunned when X-ray scans revealed he had a light bulb wedged inside his bottom.
It’s unclear how it got up there and what procedures doctors used to remove it, but the bulb was still intact when it was discovered.
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Dr Alice Murray, a colorectal surgeon at Harvard Medical School in the US, says it's not uncommon for patients to seek medical help for injuries caused by sexual activity.
"Sometimes it’s simple to manage with lots of lubricant and some basic instruments to grab hold of the thing and gently pull it out,” she says.
“When objects are fragile we approach the situation in the same way with any rectal foreign body: a systematic assessment of the patient and using a stepwise approach to removal. We're very careful not to damage the very important anal sphincters."
If it gets tricky, the patient might need to be sedated in the operating theatre to retrieve the object while the sphincters are fully relaxed.
While having a light bulb wedged in your bottom may seem bizarre, it's not the most unusual case doctors have seen.
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In 2021, a bomb squad was dispatched to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in the UK when a man showed up with a World War 2 anti-tank artillery shell stuck in his behind.
The man, a collector of war memorabilia, claimed the 5cm-long shell ended up in his butt after he slipped and fell on it.
According to the hospital, the shell was harmless but protocol had to be observed.
“As with any incident involving munitions, the relevant safety protocols were followed to ensure that there was no risk to patients, staff, or visitors at any time," reads a statement from the hospital.
Last year, an Iranian man was taken to hospital for lack of appetite, pain in his stomach and constipation, only for doctors to find a 250ml water bottle lodged in his anus.
The 50-year-old was afraid to tell his wife about the incident, but after three days of pain, she decided to take him to the hospital, where the truth came out.
The man did not disclose how the item got there.
Every year, people land up in hospitals after inserting foreign objects in their bodies for sexual pleasure.
And Dr Murray has seen it all – “wine bottles, deodorant cans, a shower curtain rail, keys, a toy plastic snake, a gerbil – and of course sex toys," she says.
Some of the strangest objects people have stuck inside their bodies include a rubber snake, a vodka-soaked tampon, a beer bottle, a remote control, a broom, a toilet-paper holder and an iPod Mini.
SOURCES: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK, METRO.CO.UK, INSIDER.COM, THESUN.IE, BUZZFEED.COM
