A man’s penis swelled to five times its normal size and became an unusable ‘blob’ after years of silicone injections.
The unnamed individual, from southern California, near Los Angeles, was left unable to get erections, use the restroom properly or have sex.
His penis was rock hard and he had a lemon and lime-sized lump form at the base of his scrotum that were separate from his testicles.
The swelling and scar tissue were caused by silicone injections into his penis done over the last 17 years to boost its size and his confidence.
The FDA warns against these injections, saying they can cause swelling, scarring, permanent disfigurement and even death if the silicone moves into the bloodstream.
But patients can still get them on the black market or in countries where clinics are less well-regulated.
Plastic surgeons told DailyMail.com they were seeing an uptick in patients coming to them with complications from silicone injections in recent years, as they urged everyone to be aware of what is being injected into their bodies.
Dr Timothy Katzen is pictured above with the patient who was left with a penis like a ‘blob’ following seven silicone injections
Silicone is a gel-like material typically used in breast implants because it mimics the feel and look of a natural breast.
If it is injected, however, the silicone can be attacked by the body’s immune system, leading to inflammation and the build-up of hard fibrous tissue around the substance.
In serious cases, the silicone can also move into the blood stream where it may cause an embolism, or blood vessel blockage, stroke or death.
The FDA says serious complications can happen immediately, weeks, months or even years after the injections. They recommend anyone who has had a silicone injection gets the product quickly removed.
In this case, revealed by Dr Timothy Katzen — a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles — the patient, now in his 60s, received the injections in Tijuana, Mexico.
He had injections into the shaft of his penis and the scrotum, or area containing the testicles, to give them a more pronounced and larger shape.
At the time, the patient said he knew others who had the injections — including men who had died after injecting themselves with silicone at home.
He was initially thrilled with the results, but over the last few years had been left struggling by infections, pain and discomfort sleeping or having sex.
The patient, who was not named, warned others to avoid receiving the surgery
He was still able to urinate and ejaculate without issue, even after his penis swelled up.
Revealing the surgery, the patient — who worked in the adult entertainment industry — said: ‘I am just over this.
‘It was fun when it first started, [but] it seems like I have just been trying to catch up and trying to make it look a little better with each injection, and it just hasn’t worked, it’s become a blob.
‘It’s become painful, uncomfortable to sleep, uncomfortable to have sex, and the infections the last couple of years… it’s just time.’
In the hours-long surgery, Dr Katzen cut open the head and shaft of his penis before cutting through the scar tissue that was ‘like marble’ and removing the scar tissue and the silicone.
After the surgery, the patient was able to have sex and gain erections again he told doctors. He was happy with the results.
Warning over the risks, Dr Katzen said he is now consulting with about 1,000 patients every year who had complications from silicone injections — and operated on 200 annually.
For comparison, about five years ago he said they were consulting for just several hundred patients.
The uptick may have been caused by growing awareness of his practice, he said, or be from injections done years ago because these can take years to cause an effect.
Dr Katzen is pictured above with the patient
But he also said many of his patients were getting the injections at events such as ‘pump parties’, where an injector may circulate and then inject people with silicone at random.
He also said that in some cases patients have to sign a legal document before going to a silicone injector, or need to be referred by a friend to get the injection.
Warning over the risks, Dr Katzen told DailyMail.com: ‘People want bigger butts and penises, people want other body parts augmented.
‘So they ask their friend, and their friend says, “Oh, I got it done by this person”.
‘And they literally take silicone in a hotel room and inject their buttock or their face or their breast, and then horrible things happen. It gets injected, it moves around. It’s just a horrible thing.’
He added: ‘And we have patients from England, We have patients from Ireland, Scotland, all over, who coem ehre to get it removed.’
