Finnish skier Remi Lindholm suffers from frozen genitals at the 2022 Winter Olympics

Finland’s Remi Lindholm was probably expecting stiff competition for Saturday’s 50km cross-country event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. And it usually helps to have some ice in your veins, so to speak, to deal with the pressure when the this year’s Games in Beijing, China. But by the time Lindholm finished the race, the concern was whether the ice was elsewhere. He had what has been described as a frozen penis.

And no, that’s not the name of a new dessert or an animated movie sequel. During the race, which took almost an hour and 16 minutes, the 24-year-old struggled with groin problems. The cold blustery conditions had prompted the organizers to shorten the race to 30km and no doubt made it harder for all participants. Lindholm, who ended up 28th, had a particularly difficult time.

Reuters writter, Philip O’Connor, quoted Lindholm to Finnish media: “You can guess which part of the body was a bit frozen when I was done. That was one of the worst competitions I’ve ever been in. It was just a matter of fighting my way through.” Lindholm, who competed in his first Olympic Games, ended up without a medal. He needed some heat for his finish, right between his legs. He got a much-needed heat pack, as the following tweet showed:

As you can probably imagine (or maybe don’t want to), having a frozen penis isn’t fun. No one will say, “Oh, the weekend was great, especially after my penis was frozen.” According to O’Connor, Lindholm recounted, “As the body parts warmed up after the finish, the pain was unbearable.” In a word, ouch. In two words, big ouch.

Freezing your penis is similar to freezing any other body part, except it’s your penis. And maybe you have a special relationship with your penis. Exposing any part of your body to cold temperatures can cause a type of ice burn. The severity of ice burn depends on how low the temperatures are, how long the exposure lasts, and how sensitive the body can be. As you can imagine, you probably wouldn’t classify your penis as the hardest part of your body. That’s one of the reasons why when you go outside you wear underwear around your privates as opposed to other places like your head. Or at least you are should wear underwear.

The first level of Icebrand is Frostnip. This happens when the low temperatures cause the blood vessels in the exposed area to constrict. The resulting reduced blood flow to the area can cause the skin over the area to either turn pale or red. Because you may not be constantly staring at your penis, especially in the middle of a ski race, you may not notice changes in genital color. Therefore, it’s a good idea to be one with your penis and quickly identify any unusual feelings in your penis, such as: B. Numbness, which could represent frostbite. Although the prospect of your genitals becoming discolored and numb can alone be enough to make you run screaming to Bora Bora, at least in the Frostnip stage your skin remains supple and any damage is reversible.

Real problems arise when exposure to cold continues and frostbite progresses to frostbite. Cold temperatures can cause the water in your cells to freeze and form ice crystals, which in turn can damage your cells. The reduced blood flow further aggravates such damage. Frostbite occurs when permanent damage occurs.