He said men can suffer additional
complications, such as impotence from this dangerous practice.
Dr Afoko’s warning follows revelations
that some men use safety pins to masturbate the male genitalia, whiles women
use thermometers and candle wax to insert into the female genitalia.
“When these objects tear the blood
vessels in the genitals, it would lead to bleeding and the blood would
accumulate inside the system over time and lead to several complications,
including death,” he stated.
Two weeks ago, doctors at the TTH
successfully operated on a 32-year old man who had a 12-centimeter safety-pin
trapped in his penis.
The pin allegedly found its way into the
patient’s penis when he attempted masturbating with it.
Dr Afoko, who led a four-member medical
team to perform the surgery, said the safety-pin was removed and the patient
had fully recovered.
He said the team used a surgical
procedure, known in medical language as ‘open ureterolithotomy’, which involves
an incision into the urethra for the removal of any foreign object.
He said the
patient earlier stated during examination that the pin must have found its way
into the penis because it was fixed somewhere in the bed sheet, which he used
the night before.
“He later
confessed that he was masturbating with the safety pin when it suddenly went
deeper and deeper till he could not remove it and sensing danger, he reported
to the hospital for attention,” he said.
Dr Afoko
cautioned men and women to be careful of what they do in their attempt to get
sexual pleasure, noting that pleasure could come with dangerous complications.
On the success
of the operation, Dr Afoko said many people were unaware that the TTH had a
number of specialist physicians who were performing life-saving surgeries.
“Doctors at the
TTH have the potential to transform medical practice in the north if given the
needed push,” he stated.
Asked what type
of support they needed, he said “we need modern medical equipment, like
endoscopy machines, which can make our surgeries simpler and faster.”
Meanwhile,
although some urologists have occasionally visited the north to repair
urological disorders, Dr Afoko is the first and only urologist to have accepted
to work in a hospital in Northern Ghana.
As expected the
pile of work before him each day is overwhelming, but he said he remains
committed to serving the north.
Currently, the
TTH boasts of about not less than 100 doctors and they
include a number of specialists, such an ophthalmologist, neurosurgeon,
obstetric gynaecologists, radiologists, psychiatrists, orthopaedic surgeons,
paediatricians and urologist.
ps. copied from Nuru's blog page!
by yakubu h.yakubu
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