Rectal Rinsing: What Are Anal Douches?

Posted by Serena Zhang on

Many guides to anal play and anal sexual activity mention that a short session of anal douching before you start is advised. While not everyone does this, it can help allay any fears of encountering bits of faeces while you enjoy yourself. Douches aren’t for everyone, but in case you were wondering about whether they’d be useful for you we have prepared a short guide for you.

What Is an Anal Douche?

An anal douche is a simple device, usually consisting of a bulb or balloon type part which holds liquid, and a nozzle which takes the form of a short hollow tube and is how the water is passed out of the device. They can come in a wide variety of colours and styles, but the basic function is always the same. They serve as a simple way to clean out the rectum.

The rectum is an important point, as it differentiates anal douches from enemas. While a douche will only clean out the rectum and anus, an enema will travel much further into your body, cleansing the entire colon. In most cases for anal sex, a douche will be more than sufficient as you will only be making use of the rectum in most cases.

Using an anal douche serves a rather simple purpose. By injecting liquid into the rectum through the nozzle, you can irrigate the rectum, flushing out any leftover faeces or bacteria. This means that when you get down to it in the bedroom, there’s little to no chance of having any nasty surprises.

When Should You Douche?

While anal douching is a relatively simple process, you might be wondering when you should actually do it. Should you do it before every time you have sex, only sometimes, occasionally? Hopefully this article should clear some of that up for you.

Douching Before Sex

The main intention of anal douching before sex is to prepare and clean out your rectum before engaging in anal intercourse or anal play. This would imply that the only time you’d need to douche would be when you are expecting to engage in any kind of anal sex. It’s not always that simple though.

Some people go so far as douching every day, as part of their normal routine. To these people, anal douching is just as normal as showering. Others will douche on a regular basis, maybe once a week or every couple of weeks. Then there are the people who just douche when they are expecting anal sex, such as before a night out or a date. There’s no hard and fast rule as to how often you should douche, so make sure to listen to your body as it’ll usually tell you when it becomes too much.

How Much Is Too Much?

Again, there’s no definite rule on this. If you douche every single day though, then it is likely to cause some damage to your rectum. Continuous douching will dry out the rectal walls, causing anal sex to be more painful, and more likely to cause tears or rips. It will can also lead to an electrolyte imbalance, and slowly remove some of the natural intestinal flora and bacteria.

So, if not every day, how often? Well my advice would be a few times a month. This gives your body some time to adequately recover between sessions. You can time them however you like, being on a regular basis or before specific events.

If I Can’t Do It All the Time, Why Bother?

Well that’s entirely down to you! It’s by no means necessary to douche before anal sex if you and your partner are comfortable with some level of faeces and mess during the activity. If that’s something you’ll worry about though, then you might want to douche any time you specifically before anal sex. Or if you enjoy the feeling, then do it more often! The important thing is to listen to your body, and as soon as anything feels a little off you need to stop douching and give your body some time to recover.

How to Anal Douche

If you’ve decided douching is for you, then great! The first thing you’re probably wondering is how to actually do it. This is quite a simple process, and involves filling the bulb part of your douche with whatever liquid you choose to use (and it doesn’t just have to be water). The nozzle is then inserted just inside the anus, and the liquid gently squeezed inside.

You need to make sure the liquid you use isn’t too hot or too cold, as you don’t want to burn your rectum, and if it’s too cold then you can become a lot tenser. Around body temperature is perfect. Hold the liquids for as long as is comfortable, then expel them, along with any waste, into your toilet.

If you have any difficulty inserting the nozzle, feel free to use some lubricant to make it a little easier to insert. Relaxing is key to the entire process too. When tense, it isn’t just the sphincter that closes up. The internal muscles of the rectum will also tense and spasm too (called peristalsis), pushing things towards the exit and making it more difficult to actually get the liquid up there as well as hard to get the nozzle in.

Benefits to Douching

Aside from the obvious reduction to the risk you encounter faeces during your anal sex adventures, douches do actually have a few other benefits. Not having to worry about any accidents can make both partners feel much more comfortable exploring anal activities. Being more comfortable can make the process much more enjoyable, as each partner will be able to relax and fully focus on the feelings and sensations of the experience.

A good anal douche can just generally be good for you too! Even outside the bedroom, having a douching session can make you feel light, clean, and just generally happier. So even if you aren’t planning on anal intercourse, it might be worth just trying out douching to see what you think!

Why Should You Anal Douche?

If you understand what anal douching is, but still aren’t convinced, then you’re probably wondering exactly why people douche. To help put your mind at rest, we’ve tried to compile a short list of reasons people have for regular anal douches.

The main purpose of anal douching is a simple one. You want to clean out the rectum of all leftover faeces, leaving everything nice and fresh. For a lot of people, sexual considerations aren’t even a factor with douching. Instead it is all about hygiene, and general health. For others though, it’s all about intercourse.

Douching for Hygiene

Simply put, hygienic douching is done solely to remove excess faeces and bad bacteria from the rectum. That’s all there is to it. While the body has its own natural processes to do this through excretion, sometimes it needs a little extra help.

Situations where this is more important are mainly focused around people with forms of digestive disorders. In particular, constipation can be the biggest issue. Not being able to regularly empty your bowels can not only be bad for you, it can be incredibly uncomfortable.

People with poor diets might also get some benefit from regular douching. If you eat a diet low in fibre, or regularly gorge on fatty or salty food, then your normal bowel movements might be looser and messier. A quick cleanse on a regular basis can make sure that no faecal matter gets built up inside your rectum.

Whichever your reasons for douching, the end result is usually the same. Most people say that following a cleanse, they feel lighter, cleaner, and healthier overall.

Douching for Sex

Anal douching for sex is a bit of a different beast. The most common reason to do it is simply to avoid faecal matter getting onto whatever you happen to be putting in your butt. A little cleaning before the act can save a lot of clean up later.

In this situation you’ll want to do your douching at least an hour prior to your penetration, so the natural mucous of the rectum has time to recover. Doing it too close to your sexual activity puts you at higher risk of anal tearing or bleeding, and if you aren’t a fan of faecal matter getting on your toys, I very much doubt you’re going to want blood on them.

While there are the obvious benefits of not getting faecal matter on fingers, toys or penises, there’s also a more psychological level to it all. Having peace of mind can make people feel much more confident. This is especially true in newer relationships, as partners might not have gotten entirely comfortable with each other yet. I think we can all imagine how awkward it would feel to be enjoying some anal sex with a new partner, then having to have a rather uncomfortable discussion after a little accident.

Douching After Sex?

While it’s understandable why people would want to clean themselves out before sex, a less common habit is for people to clean themselves out afterwards. Again, the premise is sound, you’ve introduced extra surfaces and bacteria (or even semen) into your rectum, so a quick wash will get it all back out again. While I don’t think this can cause any particular damage or harm, we all know how sensitive things can feel following intercourse so it might be a little painful. To be on the safe side, it’s probably best not to do it immediately after sex, but a little later on.

Is It Necessary?

With all that information in hand, you might still not be convinced that you should bother. I don’t blame you. Whether you decide to start anal douching or not is an entirely personal decision, and as long as you wouldn’t be embarrassed if anything did go wrong during anal sex, then not bothering at all is a perfectly valid decision. We are all free to wash our bodies however we see fit. As long as we are actually washing…

What Is the Purpose of Anal Douching?

Anal douching is the relatively simple process of cleaning the rectum of any debris or bacteria left over from the body’s natural processes. It is done by using an anal douche, which is usually a bulb holding liquid, and a nozzle which is inserted into the anus and is how the liquid passes into the body. The liquids can be varied, aiming to stimulate the body in specific ways.

A more complex thought though, is the reason behind it all. After all, our body does a fine job of self-cleaning and removing faeces, so why does it need any extra help? These reasons can be as individual as the people who take part, but they can be loosely grouped into two categories: Recreational douching, and medical douching.

Recreational Douching

Recreational douching is the most common form of douching. It isn’t done for any standard reasons or recommended by doctors. Instead it is related to each individual and what they wish to achieve from the process.

The most common reason is the simple fact that people do not wish to encounter leftover faecal matter when engaging in anal intercourse or anal play. This is where the simple part ends though. While the physical part of rectal cleaning has mostly the same results, the motives for it can vary drastically between people.

For gay men, there is a lot of pressure to regularly take part in anal douching. It is expected of any bottom (the man receiving anal) to ensure that he is clean and prepared to receive a penis. Failure to do so can bring great shame to the individual, and greatly inhibit his further ability to attract more men.

For others, douching is done less out of social pressure, and more to feel confident when engaging in anal play. This is especially prevalent in the early parts of a relationship. For some there is nothing worse than an embarrassing incident following a date with a new partner.

Medical Douching

Medical douching is done at the recommendation of a doctor or health professional. Usually it will be done to help treat a specific illness or ailment, most of which will be intestinal. If your doctor recommends that you take up douching for a medical purpose be sure to follow their instructions properly. Douching too often or incorrectly can lead to more trouble than not doing it at all.

Whether or not you decide to douche is entirely up to you. If you never do it, then most of the time your anal activity should still be faeces free. If you do choose to douche though, ensure you are doing it safely and not too often, and your butt will feel nice and fresh for whatever you have planned for it.

Cleansing Your Colon: What Is an Enema?

An enema is a more extreme version of an anal douche, which helps you make absolutely sure there is no faecal matter left when engaging in anal play. These will stimulate right the way up the colon, and are often used for many other health reasons as well as just for cleanliness. If you’re interested in starting to use enemas, but don’t know where to start, then this article is just for you.

What Is an Enema?

An enema is essentially just a larger version of an anal douche. Rather than a bulb and nozzle, and enema is made up of a bag and tube, much like an IV drip you’d see in the hospital. The tube is placed inside the anus, and the natural force of gravity causes the liquid to move downwards and into your rectum and eventually colon.

The bag part of an enema can vary wildly in size, from small bags around a litre or less, right up to four litres and larger. The length of the tube can also be different depending on which kit you buy. Be sure to do a little research and decide exactly where you’ll be using your kit so that you know what size bag and tube you’ll need.

Traditionally, enemas are used in a medical sense. Most often they will be recommended for people who suffer from constipation and difficulty passing stools. They are often used for other reasons though, such as intense bloating, yeast infections, weight problems and most controversially, cancer.

Those probably aren’t the reasons you’re here though. In terms of sexual intercourse, many people like to take part in enemas before engaging in anal sexual activity. This makes sure that there is no leftover faecal matter to surprise either partner during sex, which would surely kill the mood.

When Should You Use an Enema?

Using an enema is not a quick and easy process. You’ll always need to set aside a significant amount of time, and have easy access to a bathroom when you decide to use one. With that in mind though, you can essentially use enemas whenever you choose. You should be wary of using them too often though, as your colon and rectum also contain a lot of good bacteria which repeated enemas will wash away, potentially causing permanent damage.

That’s all there is too it really. Enema’s have been a bit of a hot topic in recent years, so if you’re looking for a little more detailed information, be sure to check out our guide to safe enema usage.

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