Experiencing Pain or Orgasm with Color Synesthesia: A Rare Case in a Young Previously Healthy Male

Abstract

Objective: Synesthesia is a unique experience with an unclear mechanism. The clinical condition usually presents when a sensation stimulates other senses. While more than 150 types of synesthesia have been reported; however, some types are considered uncommon, and co-occurrence of these rare types of synesthesia are rare. In the present report, we described a case of synesthesia with experience of pain and orgasm in color.

Method: A 31-year old healthy male presented with visual equity changes during orgasm. In addition, he described a color-pain sensation every time he experienced severe chest pain during his childhood. None of these sensations negatively affected his daily or sexual life. Based on the patient’s history, a possible diagnosis of synesthesia was made and further clinical evaluations were performed.

Results: The patient did not have any color vision abnormalities or problems in solving Hooper visual organization test, bells test, Rey complex figure test, card sorting test, and Trail making tests. The Brief Male Sexual Inventory did not reveal any sexual dysfunction. Therefore, regarding the patient's experiences without any visual disturbance and absence of any underlying diseases, the diagnosis of synesthesia was made.

Conclusion: The present report demonstrates coexistence of a rare form of synesthesia as orgasm to color with specific pain to color synesthesia. In contrast to previous reports, our case demonstrated color orgasm as a type of synesthesia that might not negatively affect sex life in men.