Sadly, no one told this one Chinese man who almost lost his life while trying to ease his bowel movement problems.

A very painful lesson

The man from Xinghua, Jiangsu province thought inserting a live eel into his rectum would help him ease his constipation, but instead, he almost died.

According to a report by Global Times, the 50-year-old man, who had been suffering from constipation, inserted a 20cm eel into his rectum via his anus.

Instead of helping with the man's bowel movements, the eel instead helped its way into the man's abdomen - by biting its way through from the man's rectum to the colon before entering his abdomen.

If that sounds painful, that's because it is.

The man then reportedly checked into a hospital a day later after suffering from unbearable pain.

Doctors who operated on him said he could have lost his life as the bacteria in the large intestines might cause hemolysis when it reaches his abdominal cavity.

Thankfully, the man survived, but more interestingly, the resilient eel survived the ordeal as well.

The report said the man decided to insert the eel into his rectum after hearing a folklore that eels could help in bowel movement.