Finnish Skier Remi Lindholm Suffers Frozen Genitals At 2022 Winter Olympics

Finland’s Remi Lindholm probably expected stiff competition for Saturday’s 50 km cross country skiing event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. And it typically helps to have some ice in your veins, so to speak, to deal with the pressure of competing at this year’s games in Beijing, China. But by the time Lindholm had finished the race, the concern was whether the ice was somewhere else. He had what’s been described as a frozen penis.

Yes, during the race, which took him nearly an hour and 16 minutes to complete, the 24-year-old was facing a groin problem. The frigid, blustery conditions had led organizers to shorten the race to 30 km and undoubtedly made it harder on all competitors. Lindholm, who eventually finished in 28th place, had a particularly hard time.

Philip O’Connor, writing for Reuters, quoted Lindholm as telling Finnish media: “You can guess which body part was a little bit frozen when I finished. It was one of the worst competitions I’ve been in. It was just about battling through.” Lindholm, who was competing in his first Olympics, didn’t end up with a medal. But he did end up with a much-needed heat pack between his legs as the following tweet indicated:

As you can probably imagine (or maybe you don’t want to imagine it at all), a frozen penis is not a fun thing to have. No one is going to say, “oh the weekend was great, especially after my penis froze.” According to O’Connor, Lindholm related that “When the body parts started to warm up after the finish, the pain was unbearable.” In a word, ouch. In two words, big ouch.

Having your penis freeze is similar to having any other body part freeze, except that it’s your penis. And you may have a special relationship with your penis. Exposing any of your body parts to cold temperatures can lead to some type of ice burn. The severity of the ice burn depends on how low the temperatures are, how long the exposure lasts, and how sensitive the body may be. As you can imagine, you probably wouldn’t rank your penis as the toughest part of your body. That’s one of the reasons why your wear underwear when you go outside. Or at least why you should be wearing underwear.

The first stage of ice burn is frostnip. This happens when the low temperatures cause blood vessels in the exposed area to constrict. The resulting reduced blood flow to the area can turn the skin overlying the area either pale or red. Since you may not be continuously staring at your penis, especially in the middle of a ski race, you may not be aware of any changes in genitals’ color. Therefore, it’s a good idea to be one with your penis and quickly detect any unusual feelings in your penis such as numbness that may represent frostnip. Although the prospect of your genitals changing color and getting numb may be enough alone to cause you to run screaming to Bora Bora, at least at the frostnip stage, your skin remains pliable and all damage reversible.

Real problems occur when exposure to cold continues and frostnip progresses to frostbite. Cold temperatures can cause the water in your cells to freeze, forming ice crystals that in turn can damage your cells. The reduced blood flow further exacerbates such damage. Frostbite is when permanent damage occurs.

At this stage, your penis (or whatever part of your body is being affected) can feel warm. But this would be one situation where a warm penis may not be a good penis. Instead, the warmth can be a sign of damage. As the frostbite gets more and more severe, deeper and deeper layers of tissue are affected. Progressive numbness and pain can occur. Blisters may form. Eventually, tissue may die, leaving affected areas black and hard. Doctors may then end up having to surgically remove or amputate such areas.

Of course, the first step in treating any ice burn is to stop exposing the body part to cold temperatures. This doesn’t mean that you should quickly plunge your genitals into hot lava or put them on a stove. Since frost-nipped or frostbitten areas may be particularly fragile, a sudden and steep increase in temperatures may cause further damage. Instead, rewarm the affected areas gradually. Have a low threshold for seeking a doctor’s help, particularly if there are any signs of more severe or permanent damage or infection.

A good way to rewarm your body part is to soak it in warm water that’s around 104˚F or 40˚C and not too much warmer. Soak the area for no more than 20 minutes at a time, interspersing the soaks with 20 minutes of wrapping the area in warm compresses or blankets in between. Clean and cover any breaks in the skin with sterile bandages that don’t stick to your skin. Again contact your doctor as soon as possible when there]s any sign of persistent damage or infection such as a fever, pus, or discharge. When you’ve had frost bite, your skin can actually look worse after its been rewarmed, turning mottled or purple and developing fluid-filled blisters.

Hopefully Lindholm can fully recover from this deep freeze. Apparently, this was not the first time Lindhom had suffered such an injury. He reportedly had a similar experience in November 2021. It’s not a good sign when someone says, “remember when your penis froze,” and you have to ask, “which time?” Going forward, Lindholm may want to consider wearing some warmer pants or perhaps 247 pairs of underwear.