Man suffers first known case of vertically broken penis during sex after hearing 'popping' noise

Prepare to wince as you hear the unfortunate tale of a 40-year-old man who somehow managed to fracture his penis vertically, top to bottom.

For the lucky people who are unaware of what a penis fracture is, this can occur when the penis is erect.

Needless to say, those possessed of a one-eyed trouser snake may wish to brace themselves for some unpleasant descriptive imagery ahead.

When someone with a penis gets an erection this means that the spongy tissue of the penis becomes hardened.

This means that while it is in this state, the tissue which surrounds it could potentially be 'fractured'.

This is not like a bone fracture as it is the tissue itself which 'breaks'.

It can be extremely painful and if not treated can result in erectile dysfunction.

Usually when this kind of injury happens the penis is fractured horizontally with a characteristic 'pop'.

Think of it like a twig being snapped in two.

The patient fractured his penis vertically (stock image). (Peter Dazeley / Getty)

While it's easier to imagine how one might fracture a penis horizontally if things are getting a little heated, this injury went a different way.

Rather than across, the unfortunate gent fractured his own member vertically.

So rather than a twig snapping, think of it like someone splitting a log or whittling a stick.

A report in the British Medical Journal revealed how urologists record that the penis was fractured after it 'buckled against his partner’s perineum'.

The perineum is the area between the genitals and the anus, and has bone underneath it rather than something more accommodating.

I'll leave the circumstances around how the injury may have occurred to your imagination.

The patient reported full sexual function six months after surgery (stock image). (Atstock Productions / Getty)

An MRI scan revealed that the penis had fractured along its length, with this potentially being the first time that doctors have encountered such an injury.

Fortunately medics were able to act quickly and after surgery the man made a full recovery.

After a recovery period of six months the patient was able to have sex again and reported no significant changes to the appearance of his penis as well as the same quality of erection as before.

The study reported that around 88.5 percent of penis fractures happen during sex, which does make you wonder about the other 11.5 percent.

The most common positions for the injury are reportedly missionary and doggy style.

Penis fractures are still very rare, affecting around 1 in 175,000 people a year.

The recovery of this patient should tell you that if you are one of those unlucky few, get yourself to a hospital as soon as you can.