When you hear the words ‘hard-earned tan’, a 22-hour erection probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But it was the reality for one 41-year-old man after he decided to inject himself with a tanning supplement.

Doctors had to inject his member every five minutes for half an hour before the erection subsided

The man, who lives in Scotland, was hospitalised after he bought melanotan – a synthetic hormone that is illegal to sell in the UK – from a bodybuilding supplier and injected it into his abdomen.

After attempting to ease the pain with ice at home, he was admitted to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow and treated for priapism, the medical term for a prolonged erection, which is caused by blood becoming trapped in the penis.

Doctors had to inject his member every five minutes for around half an hour before the erection finally began to subside. What a ride.

The man had been purchasing melanotan, which works by increasing the levels of melanin in the skin, over the counter for several months, according to BMJ Case Reports. He admitted it wasn’t the first occasion the supp had given him a hard time. So to speak.

The dose, he said, came in phials, so it was unclear just how much medication was in each injection. Doctors said they’d never seen a case like it.

“Although this patient claimed he did not take any other drugs, concomitant substance misuse was not definitively ruled out as he self-discharged before a toxicology screen could be performed,” the report said.

“It may be possible that he also misused other drugs from the bodybuilding store and these may have contributed to his erectile dysfunction.”

After returning home, the patient endured two weeks of swelling and initially, no erections whatsoever. When blood trapped in the penis is deprived of oxygen, it can damage tissues in the penis. Left untreated, priapism can cause erectile dysfunction.

Three weeks later, “he had started to have some spontaneous erections though they were short-lived and unable to be sustained for use,” the report said.

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