The unnamed Iranian had Persian script reading "borow be salaamat," which translates to "good luck on your journeys" along with the first initial of his girlfriend’s last name (“M”) tattooed onto his penis. We're unsure of a few things, such as who he is referring to when he wishes "someone" good luck --- perhaps his sperm? We're also unsure of what he will do if he breaks up with "M," just as we wonder at the wiseness of having any partner's name tattooed on one's self, as well.

To the question of exactly why this would affect a man's erection, Iranian urologists gave the answer in the most recent Journal of Sexual Medicine. They said, “Handheld needles are used and there is no control of the depth of the needle. Henna, ash, and other natural pigments are used by traditional tattooists. They first use their needles to penetrate the skin. Then they apply the coloring material on the perforated skin surface.” The key, apparently, was the depth of the needle.

The tattooist went too deep. His "holes" damaged blood vessels in the penis, which created fistulas. A fistula is defined to be an abnormal connection or passageway between two epithelium-lined organs or vessels that normally do not connect. Those fistulas also caused a pseudoaneurysm or a pooling of blood outside a vessel wall.

Since a normal erection --- and its dissipation --- require blood flow into and out of the penis, interference such as this cause the Iranian's issue. He was left with a permanent "semi-erection."

His initial urologists recommended the patient see a specialist and have the blood removed. Instead, the patient sought another opinion, and opted to have a shunt procedure performed. In terms of relaxing his erect, penis, it didn’t work.

With the failure of his treatment, the man has decided to forego any further procedures. The ailment doesn't interfere with sex, and he is able to achieve a "normal" erection nonetheless, so he decided not to try the initial treatment, either.

One unanswered question is not how the tattoo was done, but how the man maintained an erection throughout the tattooing process, which might take quite some time. Without an erection during the procedure, the tattoo would not appear normal when his member was erect. We'd guess he had to use Viagra or some other ED drug.

Common sense would lead one to also say "keep tattoo needles away from your penile member."