Kunming hospitals investigated for alleged 'erotic medical' services

Several hospitals in Kunming, capital of south China's Yunnan Province, are providing the inappropriate service of male genital cleaning, the Kunming Health Commission watchdog announced on Tuesday.

The health commission has teamed up with law-enforcement authorities for further investigation, and after verification, the hospitals in question will be punished according to law, officials said.

There has been a recent surge of advertising cards in Kunming promoting the so-called male genital cleaning service priced at 98 yuan (US$13.55). These cards feature a female nurse and a QR code on the back, which link to two private hospitals, Yunnan Ren'ai Hospital and Guandu Minsheng Hospital, according to a report in thepaper.cn.

This service doesn't need patients to go through the normal registration and medical consultation procedure, leading to suspicion that the hospitals offer erotic services under the pretext of healthcare, the report claimed.

An undercover investigation by thepaper.cn revealed that the so-called male "root bath" service involves using a device to spray and massage the male genital area, though there is no reliable research indicating any therapeutic effect from the procedure.

A customer service representative certified by WeChat as belonging to Yunnan Ren'ai Hospital stated that this service, performed by female nurses using hydrotherapy devices on male private parts, could improve conditions like prostatitis and kidney weakness.

"It's about treating diseases that may be present and while also maintaining health; it's not necessary to be ill to experience this service," the representative added. Yunnan Ren'ai Hospital has specially designated a "treatment" area for this "medical project."

A female "doctor" claimed that this area, called the "Urology Hydrotherapy Surgery," is a "male diagnostic special zone" with five treatment rooms. The "doctor" emphasized that only massages by female nurses would be effective and that "people of all ages can undergo the treatment."

The "medical" service includes both device treatment and manual therapy. "You can consider the manual therapy as a massage or traditional Chinese medicine acupoint technique. It definitely won't be painful, and don't ask me about side effects," the "doctor" stated.

The hand technique experience is priced at 98 yuan, while the device-based "root bath" experience costs 398 yuan. Media investigations found that this special section had a significant number of "male patients," according to the report.