Unusual treatment of a man for his chronic back pain: inject his own semen every month

The "alternative therapy" has baffled doctors at Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin, where the man's recently presented with severe back pain and a swollen arm, according to a case report published this month in the Irish Medical Journal.

"This is the first reported case of sperm injection to be used as a medical treatment," the doctors wrote in the report titled "Semenly" Inoffensive Back Back: an unusual presentation of a subcutaneous abscess. "

The unnamed man used his sperm "as an innovative method" to treat his chronic back pain, a decision he's taken without any medical advice, the report says. He bought a hypodermic needle online and injected a monthly dose of his sperm for 18 months.

The method does not seem to have worked.

The man went to the hospital several days after lifting a thick steel object. The pain in the lower back had worsened, according to the report. His right arm, in which he had injected the liquid several times, was red and swollen. An X-ray showed air trapped underneath, sperm having infiltrated into the soft tissues.

The doctors gave the man antimicrobial drugs. According to the report, his back improved during his stay in the hospital.

Doctors advise against injecting into the veins substances that are not intended for such purposes. Although the researchers injected sperm into animals such as rats and rabbits, no such cases have been observed in humans. The doctors wrote that there had been a lot of research into the injection of harmful substances into the veins, such as mercury, gasoline, lighter fluids and hydrochloric acid. they wrote. But they have not found any medical literature on sperm injection in the treatment of back pain after a "comprehensive review" of scientific databases, publications and "wider internet" , including "eclectic" websites and forums.

The report does not say how or where the man invented the unconventional method, although this is not the first case of people who are not doctors who take things in hand.

Last year, the controversial biotechnology engineer Aaron Traywick injected an experimental treatment for herpes while on Facebook live at a conference in Austin. A few months later, he was found dead in a therapeutic tank in a spa in Washington, D.C. The police did not suspect a criminal act and his cause of death was unknown.

This article was written by Kristine Phillips, a Washington Post reporter.