Burst Blood Vessel in Penis

[Scott1]

Hi,

Whilst having sex with my girlfriend last night I think I burst a blood vessel in the shaft of my penis. There is no pain, but there is a quite large area of dark red / purple blood under the skin. Is this anything to worry about-will it go away by itself or do i need to seek further medical attention?

[John Kenyon, CNA]

Hi there -

This is unusual but it does happen. Normally the broken vessel will resolve on its own, assuming it is allowed time and not traumatized by further use. Sometimes this is caused by a genetic weakness in a given vessel or due to capilary fragility. Sometimes it's a matter of abnormally low levels of vitamin K -- but don't try fixing this on your own, especially if you don't know whether or not that's what caused it.

First order of business is to give it a week or two for healing and clearing up. If there is any swelling or any new symptom develops (especially swelling), you should bring it to the attention of your doctor at once. Otherwise, it sounds, so far, as though it's healing normally.

Also, if this should happen again in the same area, I'd definitely bring it to the attention of a doctor. Once is just one of those things. More than once and there may be a problem that needs addressing.

Best of luck to you. Stay in touch with us and let us know how this works out.

[CERBERUS]

I have this exact same problem. Yesterday while having particularly rough sex i stubbed my penis, proceeded to finish to climax with no pain or discomfort. However when i pulled out and looked down there was a swollen bump on the top middle part of my penis under the foreskin, that looked to be filled with blood, apparently out of nowhere. I though somehow a testicle had made it's way up in there somehow, but after verifying both were in place, i discarded it thinking it would subside. It has stayed the same basic swollen size for a day, but now appears to be getting more purple as a bruise would. So my question is basically what is this? Is it a burst blood vessel as described above, maybe a vein got hit or bent causing it to bleed but since there was no cut the blood is trapped under foreskin, or is it just a bruise caused by blunt trauma? I don't know if I need to go to a doctor or just leave it to heal on it's own, there is no real pain or discomfort, it seems contained in a band on the top of my penis shaft, not spreading to the head, nor to the under side of the shaft. It feels pretty soft like a normal semi- erect penis , just with a dark red/purple colored bubble-esque resting atop. So how long should i give it to heal on it's own before becoming concrened?

[John Kenyon, CNA]

Hello --

This is a fairly common problem in the extremities, less so in the penis, but the mechanism is still the same, and it is usually the result of often very mild blunt trauma. Usually a vein smaller than it would appear (closer to capilary size than a trunk vein) will break, and this is often attributable to a deficiency of vitamin K if it happens often. Apparently you were jammed in a way that just caused a weakened area in a small vein to break. The swelling and discoloration is essentially a bruise, although with more bleeding into the tissues than usual, which is now resolving based on your description. It should continue to disperse, with some progressive changes in color and possibly some dispersion into adjacent tissue so that as the swelling goes down the discoloration should spread and lighten til it eventually disappears. It's usually just an idiosyncratic injury, and you're really fortunate in not having had any marked pain with this, at least at the time it happened, as these can often hurt pretty bad, especially when it happens in an extremity, though not for a very long period of time.

The swelling should be gone in a matter of days. The discoloration could last a week or two, but slowly fading. If there is any other symptom that begins, such as new swelling, increased or new pain, or anything like that, you probably should bring it to the attention of a doctor. Otherwise this should resolve before too long.

Hope this is helpful to you. Good luck and follow up with us here as needed.

[tft209]

Recently I encountered a similar situation. As I was about to ejaculate the grip on my penis was probably too hard and right before ejaculation, I felt a quick rupture. It wasn't very painful, but I knew something wasn't right. Moments later, there was blood coming out of my urethra. I'm quite worried since this has never happened to me before. The bleeding seems to have gone away overnight, but there is still some VERY light bleeding of blood that is light-red in color with some clear substance. Will it heal on its own? Or should I seek medical attention?

[Dr.M.Aroon kamath]

Hi Scott1,
Your history leads me to believe that It is likely that there was a minor fracture of the penis. The discolouration that you have mentioned might have hopefully gotten better by now.If you have no problems with erection or ejaculation, just forget it....but remember to be careful in the future to avoid this.

[4242]

Last evening I had intercourse with my girlfriend and didn't bring any of my condoms with, so had to use one of the ones she had and it was really tight once I was fully erect, almost to the point of cutting off circulation. We finished and I felt no pain/discomfort of any sort, but this morning I looked at my penis and there is a tiny red/purple-ish dot on the head, next to the urethra and it wasn't there yesterday. I am wondering if this could just be a burst blood vessel from the condom being so tight and pressure building up in the head of the penis, or if I should worry further and consult a doctor? It is not raised at all, seems like it is just under the skin and is a very small dot, like a pencil dot. I am going to give it a day or two and see if anything changes, but for now I am worrying nonetheless since I wore a condom and am hoping it didnt have any breaks in it from being too tight.

Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance ~

[reelb1gskunk]

I have a similar issue. About a year ago I had a swollen/broken blood vessel on the right side of my penis, when erect it was clearly a blood vessel or a vein or something, but when flaccid it appeared more like a sort of formless lump. It wasn't discolored or painful and went away soon. Since then, it has recurred several times, usually after periods of frequent masturbation or sex, but always disappears again relatively soon. It has been recurring more frequently lately, after almost every instant of sexual activity. It is always a sort of formless lump now, seems to be larger, and is less identifiable as a blood vessel or whatever. It only goes away if I make sure to abstain from masturbation or sex for several days. I haven't been concerned because it isn't painful and it always goes away, but I'm more worried since it seems to have changed. What is happening and why? Should I be concerned?

[Dr.M.Aroon kamath]

Hi 4242,
I don't think you should worry excessively about this incident.The cuffs of most condoms are fairly well designed to take care of problems like this! I doubt very much if it can get tight enough to cut off circulation to the organ in question(although it might have felt so).
The right sized condom would be comfortable though!
Best wishes!

[Dr.M.Aroon kamath]

Hi reelb1gskunk,
It is probable that it is a venous malformation or just a prominent vein.
But to be on the safer side, just show it to your GP.
Good day!