Doctors in Shanghai are reiterating a warning to consumers to use sex toys as directed after a man arrived at Zhongshan Hospital with a nine-inch dildo that had been stuck inside him for five days.

It was unclear why the man had waited so long to seek medical attention, but Shanghai Daily said the unnamed 30-year-old had inserted into his body to "enhance sexual pleasure with his wife."

After an initial attempt to remove the sex toy failed, the man left the hospital to try his luck elsewhere. Returning the next day, a second attempt was made after doctors determined the man's life was in danger.

"If we did not remove the dildo in time, the man could have gone into a critical condition," doctor Yao Liqing told the state-run paper. "We had decided to operate if we failed to take it out with the help of an endoscope."

Luckily, the procedure proved successful and surgery was avoided. "Doctors were astonished to see such a big item taken out of the patient's body," Yao said.

According to the AFP, sales of sex toys are on the rise throughout China, "as greater sexual freedom and a consumer culture take hold in the communist-ruled country."

Similar cases of sex toys getting stuck inside patients have subsequently tripled. Yao warned: "People must use sex toys properly and avoid ones that are too big as they can hurt people."

[H/T: Joe My God, photo via AP]