Man's Lungs Collapse Due to a Rare Case of 'Whistling Scrotum'

According to some women, all men are the same. But a gentleman in Ohio followed Mama Cass Elliot’s advice to make his own kind of music.

Since most boys have played sports, most men have inflated balls. But the 72-year-old managed to do that differently.

Everyone knows that snakes hiss, and the fellow noticed such a sound coming from his crotch. Thankfully, it wasn’t a ball python; but unfortunately, an emergency was upon him.

From the New York Post:

[A]n Ohio man…was alarmed to hear weird noises coming from his genitals.

The unidentified [man], who heard a “hissing’” noise, has been diagnosed as the first person in the world with a “whistling scrotum,” according to the alarming new study published in the American Journal of Case Reports.

He was rushed to the ER with a swollen face and in windless sorts. Why was he so out of breath?

An X-ray revealed “excessive” bubbles of air. As they floated around his body, they were causing his lungs to collapse. Unattended, they might fatally impair his heart.

But for now, he was functional; and it was finally found why he whistled while he worked:

[T]he primary source of the man’s strange whistling was discovered to be an open wound on the left side of his scrotum. The injury, leftover from testicle surgery to reduce swelling five months earlier, allowed some trapped air to escape.

A pair of plastic tubes were inserted to drain the air. Still, the man with the singing stones wasn’t out of the woods.

Dr. Brant Bickford and colleagues wrote that he was transferred to another hospital for further treatment. His condition deteriorated further, with the amount of air trapped between his lungs and the chest wall increasing, which compelled doctors to add a new chest tube.

Three days later, his condition had improved. He was thusly released from the hospital.

Economics aside, the next couple years saw above-average inflation:

He did, however, have air trapped in his scrotum, a condition called pneumoscrotum, and abdomen for an additional two years, which was described as an “abnormally long time.”

Some folks are health nuts while others hang loose; there’s no word on whether the man was a stickler, but in the end, he sacrificed for survival:

While no doctors could not determine the cause, they noted in the report that they were eventually forced to remove both of his testicles before resolving the problem.

Perhaps it was an old injury from pickleball…

The study went on to explain that the pneumoscrotum was likely caused by penetrating injuries, resulting in trapped air.

His was a curious case, and the mystery of the serenading sack may never be fully solved:

Pneumoscrotum is a rare condition in which air becomes trapped in the scrotum. In medical literature, only 60 cases have been described. Since the air can’t escape through the body’s orifices, this air usually requires medical intervention.

Dr. Bickford said it was unclear whether the man’s condition had improved due to this “escape route.”

In the world of medicine, some scourges are obvious while others require investigation. Thank goodness doctors were able to pinpoint the guy’s issue and give him relief. His was a difficult diagnosis, indeed.

So if you happen to meet a huevos-free Ohio man with a tale of musical malady that almost eternally aired him out, he ain’t just whistlin’ Dixie. But it was something similar to that.

He may no longer be singing his own tune, but no one can deny he’s his own kind of man. Here’s to a happy, healthy life from here on out.

-ALEX