An Irish medical journal has warned the public of the dangers of medical experimentation after a man admitted injecting himself with his own semen to treat back pain.

The case, detailed in this month’s Irish Medical Journal, involved a 33-year-old man who had presented to doctors complaining of severe, sudden onset lower back pain for days after lifting a heavy steel object.

While the man had a history of chronic low back pain, a further examination revealed a red rash on his right upper arm - and the patient subsequently admitted he had been injecting himself with his own semen for a year and a half.

“The patient disclosed that he had intravenously injected his own semen as an innovative method to treat back pain,” the case study noted.