In The Consult this morning, we linked to an article about a Jamaican dance craze called daggering. According to the article, doctors in Jamaica attribute daggering to a threefold increase in broken penises. As a result, government officials have banned any type of media promoting the dance, which simulates rough sex. Apparently, those who try to dagger in the bedroom—the same rowdy moves minus the "simulation"—are getting hurt.
Take a look at the example of daggering, shown here in a Mr. Vegas video. It's totally SFW, which prompts the question...
...is this really the root of an island-wide epidemic? (Keep in mind, the video may be a more sanitized version of what's really going on in the clubs*). With the weekend fast approaching, we wanted to know if aggressive dancing could really be a factor in what is both a terrible injury and a total buzzkill. We called practically every urologist in Jamaica for comment, and while we wait to get the real story behind what's going on there, a little background info. NEWSWEEK's Rebecca Shabad spoke to Dr. Larry Lipschultz, professor of urology at the Baylor College of Medicine, about what it takes to cause a broken penis, how painful it can be, and the dangerous consequences if untreated. (Dr. Lipschultz was not aware of the daggering phenomenon or of the alleged problems with which it is associated). Some excerpts are below:
What exactly constitutes a broken penis?
A broken penis, also known as a fractured penis, is due to a tear in the tunica albuginea, which is the covering of the erectile tissue of the penis.
What does it actually take to break one?
A sudden bending of the penis when it’s in the erect state. We see it in men who are having intercourse and then just are thrusting. They miss the vagina and then they hit the [pubic] bone and their penis bends in half quickly and it fractures. They get a sudden, sharp pain and it gets black and blue. If you operate on them, you see a tear in the tunic covering the erectile tissue.
So it can only happen during intercourse?
No. If you have an erection and it’s thrust up against something that’s not going to accommodate it, or [will cause it to] bend—a sharp bend will cause a fracture or breaking of the erectile tissue covering.
Do you know if using drugs like Viagra are making men more prone to the injury?
No, it doesn’t make them more prone. Anything that can enable someone to have an erection would make them more prone, because then they would be able to experience this problem. I think basically these people in Jamaica are having an increased frequency [of injury] because they’re having these erections but they’re not penetrating.
How often have you come across that problem?
We usually see the sequelae of it, rather than the actual event. A lot of times men won’t come in when [the inital break] happens. But what happens is they form a scar, and the scar causes the penis to bend or to develop Peyronie’s disease [a connective tissue disorder which can cause unnatural curveature of the penis]. People believe now that Peyronie’s disease is most commonly due to trauma to the penis.
Is a broken penis preventable?
It’s a low incident in general. I think it’s preventable if men are more careful during intercourse—but I mean, in the heat of the moment, it happens.
You described the type of pain that they would experience. What would you equate that pain to?
I’d say on a scale of 1 to 10, it would be an 8.
Wow, that’s pretty harsh.
Yeah, it’s really painful.The quicker the person gets to the emergency room and gets treated, the more likely he’s not going to develop a permanent deformity.
* UPDATED TO ADD: Yeah, that video is very much a sanitized video of what's going on at the clubs. Do a Youtube search for "daggering" and you'll see what we mean. Serious injury potential.
