Doctors Find Man's Penis Was Literally 'Turning to Bone'

When a man in his 60s sought medical treatment for injuries he sustained in a fall, doctors diagnosed him with a penile condition that's had fewer than 40 cases ever documented.

According to LiveScience and the medical journal Urology Case Reports, the unnamed 63-year-old, who had a medical history of alcoholism, went to the emergency room complaining of knee pain after he fell onto his behind while walking on a sidewalk with his cane. However, while he was being examined, the man also said that he was having pain in his penis.

During a routine examination, doctors didn't notice any prostate swelling or unusual discharge. It wasn't until they performed pelvic X-rays to check for fractures that they noticed the unexpected bone growth in the man's penis.

The official diagnosis was penile ossification, a rare condition which occurs when a "bony extraskeletal structure forms inside the penis due to an accumulation of calcium salts in the organ's soft tissues." The so-called "ossification" typically develops in the mid-shaft of the penis, though a few cases have seen it take over the entire shaft.

The disorder is linked to Peyronie's disease, a chronic condition caused by a buildup of scar tissue due to inflamed connective tissue in the penis. Those afflicted with Peyronie's disease can experience unpleasant issues including deformity, discomfort, painful erections, and erectile dysfunction. Anyone with a penis can be affected, though the disorder is most common among people aged 40 to 70. 

Doctors suspected that Peyronie's disease may have contributed to the man's condition, but because he declined further examination or treatment against the advice of medical professionals, no labs were performed. Other factors that may have possibly caused the bone growth included late-stage kidney disease, metabolic abnormalities, repeated trauma to the penis, or chronic inflammation. 

Treatment for penile ossification is generally managed with topical medicines, injections or oral painkillers. In more severe cases, shock-wave therapy can be used to treat the ossification—similar to a kidney stone procedure—by employing sonic pulses to break down the calcification build-up.