Man Almost Loses His Penis to Pubic Hair Tourniquet

To be clear, I think everyone should feel free to do whatever they want with their pubic hair, including nothing at all. But one man’s harrowing ordeal with some errant pubes that nearly resulted in partial castration certainly presents a compelling argument for keeping things trimmed and tidy down there.

A recent report published in Urology Case Reports details the unsettling case of a 57-year-old Australian man who almost lost part of his penis after suffering from “hair tourniquet syndrome,” in which a hair or thread becomes tangled around fingers, genitals or other extremities, cutting off blood supply. Hair tourniquets are most commonly seen in children, and left untreated can require surgery and even amputation.

In this case, the patient, who was uncircumcised, suffered from a tourniquet of pubic hair that had formed underneath the foreskin and was initially missed by doctors. The patient first reported to a family doctor with complaints of extreme pain and swelling of the tip of the penis, but the physician didn’t examine beneath the foreskin and failed to identify the cause of the patient’s symptoms. After steroids had no effect on the condition, the patient was referred to Geelong University Hospital, where doctors discovered “a complex hair tourniquet of short, matted” hairs that had circled the area beneath the glans, essentially choking the tip of the penis. Per the report, doctors speculated that the “pubic hair collected under the foreskin and after significant accumulation and time the single strands matted together forming a tight ring.”

The condition was so dire it had reportedly constricted the man’s penis down to one centimeter in diameter and “completely divided” his urethra. While the man was warned he could lose part of his penis, doctors managed to salvage remaining tissue in surgery and were able to repair the urethra.

The good news is, this horrifying ordeal is probably pretty unlikely to happen to you, regardless of the state of your pubic hair. Per the report, the man in question was described as an “unkempt gentleman” who suffered from “anxiety and depression” and appeared to lack a stable home. The severity of his case can probably be chalked up to poor mental health and a lack of health literacy and access to proper hygiene.

Still, if the mere idea of losing your penis to a noose of pubes is enough to make you swear off pubic hair altogether, we certainly can’t blame you.