'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Will Likely Lead To More Sex Toy-Related Injuries
The popularization of the "Fifty Shades of Grey" series seems to have led to a massive increase in injuries involving sex toys.
According to the Washington Post, data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states that emergency room visits for sex toy-related problems have nearly doubled since 2007.
A large jump occurred in 2012 and 2013, shortly after E.L. James released the first novel of the series in 2011.
The CPSC's report details the demographics and medical outcomes of 343 people who were taken to the emergency room because of sex toy-related incidents between 2005 and 2013.
None of the injured individuals died or required help from the fire department, but 25 percent were hospitalized or sent to another medical facility.
The majority of the injuries seemed to be taken care of rather quickly, as 71 percent of patients were released without requiring further hospital care.
That doesn't mean they weren't dangerous or at least terrifying for the patients, however, as 83 percent of these injuries involved what is known as "foreign body removals."
In other words, most patients had something stuck inside them.
The type of equipment that resulted in the most injuries was not revealed, but the Washington Post says the cases involved a very wide range of devices.
The data suggests men are enjoying sex toys more and later in life than women are, despite the latter being the target audience for "Fifty Shades of Grey."
Male patients accounted for 58 percent of the emergency room visits, and the average age was 44 compared to 30 for females.
The oldest man to sustain a sex toy injury was 85 while the oldest women was 67.
Although there's no way to tell which patients were inspired by the books, the spike in this kind of injury after publication definitely seems to indicate a correlation.
Target is now selling "Fifty Shades of Grey"-themed sex toys, and the entire sex toy industry was calculated to be worth $608 million in 2013 following a growth of 7.5 percent.
These numbers are expected to skyrocket once again after the film adaptation comes out this Friday.
Citations: Sex toy injuries surged after Fifty Shades of Grey was published (The Washington Post)
