Listen, not to put too fine a point on it but buttstuff is better when the anal cavity is clean and mess-free. There are a few different ways of going about anal cleaning preparation, but today we’re talking about the dynamic world of anal douching.
Often slang a word used to descrbe a jerk (who, incidentally, nobody should be having anal sex with), the term douche is used to describe the tool used for clearing out an orifice. Vaginal douching and anal douching are both a thing, with anal douching specifically being the act of cleaning out the lower part of the rectum.
Anal douching is not to be confused with an enema, which could be considered a similar practice. However, an enema cleans both the lower part of the rectum as well as farther in, and during anal sex, unless your anal toy or partner is very wow-endowed and you’re ready for some deep work, anal sex is likely only going to take place in the lower portion of the anus.
It should also be noted that you don’t actually have to engage in anal douching to be “clean” enough for anal sex. The part of the rectum that is penetrated during most anal intercourse is much more surface-level, and fecal matter (the fancy word for poop) doesn’t really hang out in the lower part of the rectum.
Anal douching is more of a cleaning method for the lining of the rectum rather than a removal of fecal matter, which you might achieve through a deeper enema bulb douche instead. If you’re ready to do some anal acrobat cleaning for receptive anal intercourse, read on!
Preparation
In order to get clean and ready for anal penetration with a rectal douche, you can use something as simple as a squirt bottle with a tapered lid, but it probably won’t be very comfortable. It’s a better idea to purchase an anal douching kit of some sort, that has lovely features like a more soft, rounded tip for easier butt insertion and booty cleaning.
Additional must-haves are a place into which you’re able to expel the water or fluid, such as a toilet or shower (your particular douching location doesn’t matter as long as it’s sanitary). You’ll also need a little bit of lube to make the nozzle fit snugly into that bottom, and lukewarm water or saline solution to do the actual cleaning process.
If you’re planning on douching and doing sexy butt things with the best sex toys for men or women, like anal beads, the best anal dildo, or other anal appendages more regularly, there are permanent shower douche and shower enema fixtures that can be added to your shower so that the rectal douching process can be clean, simple, and easy.
The Process
Once you’ve got all your equipment and you’ve selected a nice comfy, sanitary space to do the douching, it’s time to commence the procedure. If you’re able to, one easy position to self-douche is with one leg up, for example on a bench or on a toilet seat.
A quick aside: if you do end up going with the douching equipment of a water-bag douche, they can also conveniently be filled with hot or warm water and wrapped in a fuzzy soft fabric to keep you nice and warm and cozy at night. Water bag douches pull double duty!
As with any anal play with real appendages or adult sex toys, using a personal lubricant goes a long way to making butt things comfortable, so lube up the end of your bulb syringe, then suck up some lukewarm tap water or anal douche fluid.
Next, insert the lubed end of the bulb douche, and squeeze to have the fluid enter your bottom. Hold for roughly 10 to 20 seconds, then release the liquid into the shower/toilet/receptacle. Repeat this process as many times as it takes for the fluid to come out clear, and then one more for good measure. It usually takes 2-3 tries, but it should come clear soon enough.
If you’re using a douching shower head, make sure to be mindful of the amount of water flow and water pressure that you're putting up into your rectum. Too much water too quickly can cause problems, irritating or even tearing the tissues inside. Also, it’s important to be mindful of temperature — you want to be using lukewarm water. Hot water, even if it's acceptable to your skin, might be too hot for the more delicate tissues inside your body and can lead to further irritation.
Afterwards
Your douche has just been in your bottom and now it needs to be cleaned. It’s easiest to just clean the douche prior to putting the equipment away, so go ahead and wash the bulb and nozzle with warm soapy water from your shower hose (you can also use a sex toy cleaner), and stow it away until your trusty anal cleaning pal is needed again.
Now that you’re finished, you can head on over to anal pound town, making sure to use lots of lube of course — anal intercourse isn’t fun without lube.
Risks of anal douching
There are certain risks associated with rectal douching, especially if you do it too much. Putting water up your bum too often can result in an electrolyte imbalance, causing harm to the anal canal and potentially irritating the skin of the rectum, which then produces a host of other complications.
Douching improperly, such as using a liquid that irritates your bowels or causes infection, or inserting the tip in a manner that hurts or is in some way uncomfortable, can cause irritation in your anal cavity, which can then lead to infections. This is something to avoid because irritated anal tissues, in addition to being annoying to experience, are also more likely to spread STIs.
The professionals over at Bespoke Surgical have pretty stellar educational videos and anal sex-specific advice, instructions, and medical advice for those interested in maintaining the health of their bottom through regular anal sex. They've got information on possible consequences of doing anal sex improperly, such as an anal fissure, and a whole host of other educational resources as well. There are also useful physiological facts, such as these by Bespoke Surgical’s CEO, Evan Goldstein, D.O.: “[P]oop isn't stored in the anal canal, it's stored higher up in the digestive tract, in the colon … while the rectum is a conduit for stool, it isn't where it's stored."
Since we’re on the topic of douching, it’s also good to know that for women, a vaginal douche is not recommended by most medical professionals because it can mess with healthy vaginal flora. No, we’re not talking about flowers (though it’d be cool if you could grow daisies in your coochie, wouldn’t it?); vaginal flora means the good bacteria that live all up in there. These little guys help maintain an acidic environment in the vagina, thus preventing things like yeast infections. Vaginal douching can, in addition to disrupting the natural balance of bacteria up there, lead to the following health problems:
- Bacterial vaginosis (BV) (research shows that women who douche weekly are actually 5x more likely to develop BV than those who don’t)
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Pregnancy issues like like preterm birth and ectopic pregnancy
- STIs
- Vaginal irritation or dryness
Another thing you may have heard of is douche dependency. While it’s got the word “douche” in it, it turns out that anal douching doesn't actually go far enough up the anal cavity to cause harm in the same way that repeated enemas can. Yes, enemas can be problematic if you get them too often — it can actually cause the body to get to “douche dependency,” which is when you become dependent on the practice for regular bowel movement.
When you get too many enemas too frequently, there’s the potential to weaken the intestinal muscles so that it’s more difficult to have natural poops without the assistance of an enema. Fortunately douching itself does not create this particular consequence; as long as the warm water or cleanser doesn’t go too far up there, you should be okay.
Finally, while anal cleansing through douching can affect the electrolyte levels of the rectum, this can be mitigated by douching less frequently or using a body-mimicking anal douche liquid pack. According to experts, “Anal douching is safest when done in moderation (like 1-2 times per week).”
One of the benefits and drawbacks of douching is that your butt becomes clean and tidy, and that can be an experience that is easy to get used to. But be careful about using douching to make anal sex wonderful too often, because that might take the spontaneity out of the experience so that every sexual encounter requires at least 15 minutes of not-so-sexy prep.
Finally, enjoy all the delights that are on offer when you have a bootylicious encounter!
