Did I Break My Penis? 

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Dear Reverend,

I had some pretty wild sex the other day. It was great, but now my penis really hurts. Could I have broken it? More importantly, will it ever get better?

Buster D. Johnson (man, 24)

Dear Buster D. Johnson,

There are no bones in the penis, but you can indeed fracture one. That's the term used when the corpora cavernosa — spongy tissues in the penis that fill with blood during an erection — are damaged due to a sudden blow (not that kind) or bend.

Penile fracture is fairly rare, but it can occur anytime trauma happens to an erect penis. This could be during particularly enthusiastic masturbation or aggressive thrusting — or when the penis slips out of a partner and hits a pelvis or other body part. The riskiest sexual positions for this are doggy-style and regular or reverse cowgirl/boy. Studies show that fractures often occur in rushed or stressful situations. Word to the wise: Slow down!

If you actually fractured your penis, you likely would have known right away because it's immediately very painful. You may have heard a pop or a crack and experienced a rapid loss of erection, followed by swelling and bruising. You can google images, but trust me, it's not pretty.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but if that sounds like what happened, seek medical attention right away. If you wait, symptoms could get worse. You could wind up with sexual or urinary dysfunction, scar tissue, or a permanently bent penis. If you really did a job on your member, you might require surgery, but don't let that scare you. Get checked out to make sure your little buddy can get back into tip-top shape.

My advice to anyone with a penis: Be careful out there. Or in there. Whichever.

Good luck and God bless,

The Reverend