photo: reuters (Photo: Reuters)

A 50-year-old man from Thailand is finding out the hard way that size doesn't matter so much as simply having a penis after his penis was removed to save his life. The man was giving himself olive oil injections in an attempt to increase the size of his penis, a common (but ineffective) home treatment in Thailand, and instead of gaining girth he contracted a severe infection that turned cancerous and swelled his genitals to the size of a coconut. Surgeons had to remove his penis and testicles in "the biggest genital surgery we have ever done," said Sirikul Jiraranaikhajorn, a spokeswoman for the Police General Hospital in Bangkok.

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She explained to AFP that the procedure is a common back alley service offered throughout Thailand and that the hospital treats about 40 men a month for infections related to the injections, which can also use beeswax, silicone or paraffin in place of olive oil.  The unlucky man had been giving himself the injections for years, she said.

The Bangkok Post reported that the infection was initially caused by a cut on his penis, not from the injections themselves, but that the procedure is typically the culprit for such infections.  It took the man nearly six months to seek treatment for the infection and the cancer had spread from his penis to his testicles and abdomen. Doctors removed his genitals and bypassed his urethra to his anus, but are not confident that the man's health will remain stable.

"The cancer and the wound was so severe when they brought him in," said Dr. Surat Kittisup-porn of the Police General Hospital, " [that] there is a good chance the cancer will spread again in the future."

Jiaranaikhajorn hopes the story will discourage men from seeking the procedure.

"It only brings bad results -- people misunderstand (that it works)," she said. "A woman will love a man not because of the size."