Facts: ‘Most Dangerous’ Sex Position

When it comes to sex-related injuries among men, penile fractures are rare yet painful; now researchers say they know which positions are likeliest to result in them. Researchers reviewed records from three hospitals over a 13-year period in Campinas, Brazil, a city of roughly 3 million people.

In a paper published they write that the “cowgirl”—when the woman is on top of the man—was responsible for half the penile fractures reported among the cases involving heterosexual sex. The second-worst offender was doggy style, responsible for 29%, while the traditional missionary position had been assumed in 21% of the fractures, reports the Telegraph.

Still, penis fractures are rare—so much so that there isn’t really a known statistic for the injury, reports Cosmopolitan. Over 13 years of hospital records in Campinas, only a total of 42 men had “the condition confirmed after clinical, radiological, and surgical evaluation,” the researchers report. As a side note: 28 of those 42 fractures occurred during heterosexual sex, 4 during homosexual sex, 6 due to “penile manipulation,” and 4 in “unclear” circumstances. Researchers surmise that when the woman is on top, “she usually controls the movement with her entire body weight landing on the erect penis, not being able to interrupt it when the penis suffers a wrong way penetration.” (This man’s decision to have sex in a desert ended up costing him big-time.)