Penis injury during sex common cause of Peyronie’s disease 

Nothing will get a man’s attention more than when his penis hurts.

There are typically two ways in which a painful penis can develop:  after direct penis injury, or as a result of some type of medical health problem or sickness affecting the urinary system.  When the penis hurts because of suspected disease of the prostate gland, bladder or urethra there are few clear cut answers to penis pain with the exact location, duration, and quality of penis pain different from case to case, without good explanation.   You will notice that some men with prostatitis have pain at the base of the penis, while other men with the same diagnosis have pain at the tip of the penis, and other men no penis pain at all.  Men who have a painful penis are often surprised that their condition is never given a definite diagnosis to explain its cause.

This discussion will focus primarily on a particular type of painful traumatic event peculiar to Peyronie’s disease that can either cause or worsen an existing penile problem, as with an injury during intercourse.

Peyronie’s treatment

Regardless of how Peyronie’s disease starts, surgery and drugs are not always needed to reduce the pain and penile distortion it causes. Since 2002 the Peyronie’s Disease Institute has worked with people from around the world to use natural Alternative Medicine methods to help their body reverse the Peyronie’s scar naturally. While surgery is always an option, most people prefer to first use non-surgical treatment to possibly avoid the inherent risks of surgery.

Learn more about Peyronie’s disease treatment with Alternative Medicine. Another good source of information is the Peyronie’s Disease Handbook.

Medical conditions that can cause penis pain

It is important to know that several common disease conditions not related to penile injury can also cause dull and sharp pain in the penis and should not be ignored, especially if you have other unexplained symptoms related to the pelvis or urinary system:

• Peyronie's disease
• Bladder stone
• Cancer of the penis
• Inflammation of the prostate gland (prostatitis)
• Reiter syndrome
• Sickle cell anemia
• Erection that does not go away (priapism) after 4 hours – medical emergency
• Genital herpes
• Syphilis
• Urethra inflammation caused by chlamydia or gonorrhea
• Infected or defective penile prosthesis
• Infection under the foreskin of uncircumcised men (balanitis)
• Pimples or insect bites on the head or shaft of the penis

Because any of these conditions can cause a deeply hurt penis, it is always best to rule out disease of the urinary system by going to your family doctor for a complete examination with any type of pains in the penis.  If you do not have a medical health problem, then a painful penis is usually explained by past trauma to the genitals or pelvis.  Even minor trauma can at times cause significant penile injury with varying degrees of pain and other symptoms.  One of the reasons that traumatic penis damage is often not suspected as the cause of genital pain is that there is sometimes a delayed response between the time of injury and when the penis pain begins.  It is rather common for a man to discover that a penis injury during sex that started his Peyronies disease might not cause discomfort until several weeks or months afterward.  Probably the single-most common way for PD to start is from a forcefully bent penis during sex.

Penile fracture or broken penis syndrome – Common way to hurt penis during sex

Even though there are no bones in the penis, penile fracture and broken penis syndrome are legitimate medical terms.  Both refer to a sudden and forceful bending injury of the erect penis, resulting in torn or ruptured internal tissue.  Many times a penile fracture will occur as a result of injury during sex activity when an erection is suddenly and forcefully impacted at the tip of the penis, almost like being punched in the nose.  When the force is sudden and unexpected the vulnerable shaft can painfully sustain a sharp bend, “breaking” the inner layer of penile tissue called the tunica albuginea membrane, as well as other tissues.  The forceful impact that causes a penile fracture most commonly happens during heightened sexual activity with the female partner in the superior position; other sexual positions allow for this to happen but this is the classic situation that results in a penile fracture.  Within just a second of time she will pull back too far, lose contact with the male, and then continue back down on top of the erection impacting the penis head with her pubic, inguinal or inner thigh area.  The initial immediate pain can be very mild or severe, depending on many variables, yet sufficient to tear the tunica when it is stretched tight during an erection.

The tunica albuginea surrounds the two corpora cavernosa chambers, specialized elongated masses of spongy tissue of the penis that fill with blood to create an erection.  In a penile fracture, because the torn tunica albuginea can no longer trap blood inside the penile chambers, blood that is normally confined within the penile chambers can freely leak out to surrounding tissue often resulting significant bruising and swelling, in addition to varying degrees of pain in the penis.

About half of men who undergo penis injury similar to the above, or even compression injury during a work-, sports- or auto-related accidents, will self-heal and repair the problem with the tunica albuginea without developing Peyronie’s disease.   The other half of cases will not heal, and it will slowly and gradually worsen as Peyronie’s disease develops over time.

Pain in tip of penis

Men with Peyronie’s disease sometimes have pain in the tip of the penis, although this is somewhat unusual because the pain of PD is usually located along the shaft or even base of the penis.  Although pain in the penile tip could be related to Peyronies, it is more likely due to reflex from the prostate gland; prostatitis often will refer pain to the tip of the penis.  As a point of differentiation, prostatitis will often increase urinary frequency, reduce the force and volume of urine, burning in the penile tip unrelated to voiding, reduced erectile ability, blood in the urine and semen, and aching pain is possible in the penis, testicles, rectum, perineum, groin and lower abdomen and low back.  Prostatitis can be precipitated by too frequent or too infrequent ejaculation, sexual arousal without ejaculation, withdrawal at the time of ejaculation, aggressive bike or horseback riding, excessive spicy foods, alcohol, and caffeine, as well as prolonged sitting especially in an automobile.

A similar complaint is burning at the tip of the penis.  When this occurs it suggests the possibility of an STD (sexually transmitted disease) or an infection of the urinary tract.   Generally, an STD is associated with a change of sexual partners, and can be variable from few a few subtle symptoms to marked genital pain during intercourse, discharge, itching and pain burning pain in the penis tip during urination.  STDs are serious problems that demand prompt and aggressive medical diagnosis and care.   A common urinary infection is suspected if you feel the need for frequent urination or notice that you need to urinate again within a few minutes.

Pain at base of penis

Pain at the base of the penis is perhaps most often explained as originating from a chronic bacterial infection of the prostate (chronic bacterial prostatitis).  This problem often comes and goes over time without apparent reason.   During a flare-up the penis pain can be dull or sharp, and extend to the testicles and anus as well as the pubic bone in front or the low back.  Bowel movements may be painful at this time.  It is also common to note frequent urgency of urination, pain when urinating or during ejaculation. While these symptoms are similar to an acute bacterial prostatitis, men who have a flare-up of chronic bacterial prostatitis tend to be less run down, feverish and ill-feeling than with acute prostatitis.