Relief for an elephant’s painful penis problem: How wildlife vets saved Willy

Zimbabwe: Relief for Willy the Elephant's Painful Penis ProblemNovember 30, -0001 News24 CorrespondentWildlife vets in Zimbabwe's Kariba resort have had to treat an elephant with a large and very personal problem: a swollen penis."Willy", as conservationists in the resort town have affectionately named him, was spotted with a "massive" swelling in his genital area around a week before vets were able to dart him."It was very noticeable when we first saw him," Debbie Ottman of the Kariba Animal Welfare Trust (KAWFT) said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.Elephants' testicles are invisible because they are located under two inches of skin within their bodies. But this elephant "looked like he had [a scrotum] because he was so swollen", she said. "I've never seen this before."Vets from the AWARE Trust in Harare came to help treat the animal.As if he was asking for help, Willy hung around some buildings in Kariba for two weeks. That meant that he was easily located on the day of the procedure.'Elephants talk to each other'"I honestly believe elephants talk to each other," Ottman said. "It was as if he'd been told, 'Go there, there are people who will help you'."Once he was darted, Willy was found to be suffering from a leakage of fluid in the tissues around his penis, possibly due to a viral infection, according to AWARE.He was treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. There are some fears his heart may have been affected.KAWFT on Tuesday posted pictures of the procedure, showing the elephant being sprayed with water while under anaesthetic.Touchingly, "four or five" elephants hung around the area while Willy was under anaesthetic, Ottman said. Rangers kept a watchful eye on them but they did not disturb the procedure.As soon as he woke up, Willy charged off towards the waiting group. One of them broke rank and came towards him, "as if he was saying: 'Well, are you OK?'" Ottman said.

Relief for an elephant’s painful penis problem

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There are certain common medicines and drugs that the mahoutcan easily keep nearby at all times in order to treat minor or emergency healthproblems. Most of the medicines to be kept at hand are for external use (eyedrops, pain-relief ointments, oral pain relievers, etc.) and are useful inemergency situations where there is no veterinarian nearby or where theveterinarian can not be contacted and the mahout or manager must provide theinitial treatment.

Lichen sclerosus is a rare skin disease that causes itchy and painful patches of thin, white, wrinkled-looking skin. In women, these may occur on the vulva and/or the skin around the anus. In men, it typically affects the head of the penis. And in both men and women, it can result in painful sexual intercourse and difficulties when urinating, among other symptoms.

Elephantiasis may also affect the male and female external genital organs. In a male, there may be enlargement of the scrotum, and the penis may be retracted under skin which has become thickened, nonelastic, hot and painful. The spermatic cords may thicken. Affected individuals may experience pain and a burning sensation.

Pudendal neuralgia is a painful neuropathic condition involving the dermatome of the pudendal nerve. It should be suspected in patients complaining of burning pain in the clitoris/penis, vulva/scrotum, perineum, and rectum. Pain is more severe with sitting and relieved or improved by standing. Onset is usually immediately after vaginal surgery, pelvic trauma, or childbirth. The Nantes criteria are used for the diagnosis of pudendal neuralgia. CT guided pudendal nerve blocks are more precise than transvaginal injections for diagnosis. Initial therapies include minimizing activities that worsen the pain and pain medications. Physical therapy and Botox injections are used in patients identified with pelvic floor tension myalgia. When conservative treatments fail, surgical decompression or pain-blocking methods are performed. Knowledge and best practice in this field are changing rapidly; therefore changes in diagnosis and treatment protocols are expected[21].

This means, all of these symptoms shared above occur from the same problem. They are not different. They all occur in the pelvic floor. That is why pelvic floor dysfunction is the most accurate name for all of these less helpful names: levator ani syndrome is pelvic floor dysfunction with referred posterior symptoms from trigger points in the posterior of the pelvic floor, anal and rectal pain is pelvic floor dysfunction with posterior symptoms referred by trigger points in the posterior of the pelvic floor, coccydynia (tailbone pain) is pelvic floor dysfunction with trigger points referring posterior symptoms from the posterior of the pelvic floor, urinary frequency and urgency, nighttime urination, pain with urination, post ejaculatory pain, tip/shaft of the penis pain, testicular pain are anterior symptoms referred from anterior/front trigger points.

This symmetry is striking, though perhaps not surprising, he says, as theclitoris and penis arise from the same tissue during development of thefetus. More interestingly, the finding suggests that some women with sexualproblems may respond to the medical treatments which work for men. Today,doctors generally understand that most cases of impotence in men stem fromphysiological disorders, and there are a range of possible treatments fromdrugs to penile implants. But most women with sexual problems are stillreferred to psychologists, says Goldstein. 2ff7e9595c