penis

Penisgate erupts at Olympics; scandal exposes risks of bulking your bulge

fillers, health, hyaluronic acid, Olympics, paraffin, penis, ski jumpers / Beth Washington / February 7, 2026

Bruno Sassi, the communications director for FIS, the international ski and snowboard federation, seemed less amused, telling the BBC, “There has never been any indication, let alone evidence, that any competitor has ever made use of a hyaluronic acid injection to attempt to gain a competitive advantage.”

But what if they did? Here’s what we know about hyaluronic acid and paraffin for penis augmentation.

Hyaluronic acid

While some news outlets have played up the “acid” part of its name, hyaluronic acid is not some nefarious flesh-melting hazard. It’s a common filler used for various clinical purposes.

Hyaluronic acid is a polysaccharide that is naturally found in a wide variety of tissues in the human body, including the skin, eyes, and connective tissue. It’s a chief component of the extracellular matrix. It attracts water molecules to itself, creating volume that can provide structural support. In a pure form, it has no tissue or even species specificity and therefore is considered to have little risk of sparking immune responses.

As such, hyaluronic acid gel fillers are used in a variety of medical procedures, with approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers are injected into joints, particularly knees, to relieve pain from mild to moderate arthritis, which can decrease the natural amount of HA in joints. Age also decreases natural levels of HA, and one of the main uses of HA fillers is for cosmetic purposes—plumping lips and cheeks, and minimizing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines in the face. HA fillers can also be used inside the eye in a variety of surgeries, including cataract extraction and corneal transplants. It can also be used topically for wound care and to relieve skin pain and itching.

For these purposes, the most common adverse effects are pain, bruising, redness, itching, and swelling, which usually last for just a few days. In extremely rare cases, there can be more serious side effects from injections, such as bacterial infections, tissue death (from blocked blood flow), and a granulomatous foreign body reaction, in which the immune system tries to clear a foreign substance, such as bacterial impurities, leading to a collection of immune cells.

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Why you don’t want to get tuberculosis on your penis

Miliary tuberculosis (MTB) is a severe form of tuberculosis in which the instigating bacteria— Mycobacterium tuberculosis or potentially a relative that infects cows and deer, Mycobacterium bovis—spread widely through the body and create small lesions. The name “miliary” dates back to 1700, when a physician noted that the specks resembled millet seeds.

While Mycobacterium can spread through the air and are often found in the lungs, the bacteria can strike anywhere in the body. Still, penile tuberculosis is exceedingly rare. In fact, it’s uncommon to have tuberculosis erupt anywhere in the urinary and genital tracts. Among the infections that spring up in the region, penile infections account for less than 1 percent.

But, given the man’s lungs and his immunosuppressed status, the unusual presentation became their leading guess—and tests soon confirmed it. Mycobacterium were identified in the man’s respiratory tract, and penile tissue tested also showed the bacteria, though the testing couldn’t identify what species of Mycobacterium.

Treatment for tuberculosis requires a regimen of several antibiotics and takes months. In the man’s case, they customized his treatment with a 12-month, four-drug regimen that wouldn’t interfere with his transplant.

Still, the penile lesion got worse before it got better. He developed a large necrotic ulceration on the side of his penis, and his foreskin began to “break down.” Surgeons had to mechanically cut out the dead tissue. After 10 months, his infection appeared to have cleared, and his penile lesion had improved.

Unexplained exposure

It remains unclear how the man got the infection. He told doctors he wasn’t aware of coming in contact with any tuberculosis patients and wasn’t in settings where the bacteria normally spread, such as prisons. It’s possible that the bacteria had been lurking in his transplanted kidney.