How Long After Douching Are You Clean

Image for Douching: A friendly guide — Martin N. Hinze

Being a sexually active gay human being now crash-landing into my mid-30s at  breakneck speed, I would be lying if I said that I oasis't developed an  intimate relationship with shit. Indeed,  while non all queer men practice anal sex  on a regular basis, if yous do, you tend to  develop routines and methods to minimise the presence of faeces during sexual intercourse (unless, of class, you're  into that sort of thing, which is another  topic entirely). Naturally, trace amounts are somewhat inevitable, merely overall, if you want  to relish a faeces-complimentary sex life, grooming is key. Enter: anal douching. Anal douching is basically the act of flushing out one's rectal cavity before whatever sexual activity has occurred, in society to ensure every bit close to a squeaky-clean experience as possible, for all involved. It does, and I speak from personal experience, take some fourth dimension to get the hang of information technology – many a lesser has had an evening of love-making thwarted by improper douching, whether it be an incomplete cleanse, rectal irritation, or even injury. So whether you are a young queer embarking on your start sexual experiences, or a hetero in demand  of a quick primer, here are some initial pointers on how to douche properly and safely.

Although I do consider myself somewhat of an  expert on the subject, information technology's wise to refrain from giving any sort of medical advice without first  consulting with a professional person. Thus, I spoke with  Ahmad Awadalla, a sex educator with Berliner  Aids-Hilfe, to aid me demystify the art of douching. Ahmad has been a sexual health professional for ten years, and he has the sort  of calm and measured demeanour that immediately puts you at ease when discussing sensitive topics – which is great since we're about to talk openly about shooting h2o out of our butts. Basically, in that location are ii easy ways to get virtually douching: enema bulbs and shower douches. "First of all when yous douche, you need to retrieve near what kind of water yous're using," Ahmad explained. "It's supposed to be saline, so information technology doesn't actually disturb the bacteria life balance of the rectum. The water should be lukewarm – not too hot, but not cold either. And you lot need to ease into it. If you're going to insert annihilation, yous need to exist prepared with lube, so you're not going from 0 to 100. That tin can cause injuries, and that's exactly the kind of situation yous want to avoid."

"Many a bottom has had an evening of honey-making thwarted by improper douching."

I personally prefer the bulbs, a kind of rubber squeeze bottle you lot tin can hands insert multiple times a session without too much effort. Imagine you lot're filling up your rectum similar a warm bath, not power-washing your donkey like a cheap car wash. Then, hold the water for a minute or then, squat on the toilet and voilà, you're ready to quite literally rinse and repeat. The biggest mistake rookies brand is to not repeat the procedure until the h2o runs clear, and this tin can have several cycles. If you only rinse once or twice, yous're probable to just loosen up whatever faecal matter you might have upwards there, then you're even worse off than you were in the beginning. "I recollect the bulbs are a skillful idea if you want to integrate them into a routine, or if yous douche often," says Ahmad. "In more relaxed and impromptu settings, then the shower douche would exist an selection." I've heard of various shower head and toilet attachments that are supposed to make douching even easier, but the thought of having water pressure up there makes me a footling skittish. "Although the threat of water pressure causing injury is real, you tin can start from a altitude and take it ho-hum," Ahmad assures me. "For me, growing up in Arab republic of egypt, there was e'er this sort of toilet-shower, and for a lot of gay men, that was but the almost obvious solution. I've actually installed a bidet hose on my toilet right now considering by and large, it's but part of anal hygiene, to actually rinse with water."

Yet, and this may seem counter-intuitive, the best communication yous tin give anyone about douching is to not over do it. While of course, Ahmad advises his clients to do sound sexual health and hygiene (including regular STI bank check-ups), when it comes to douching, yous have to know when to stop. "The idea of douching, in a fashion, lies in the fear of shit. Merely information technology sometimes drives people to do farthermost hygiene," he warns. "This fright is where a lot of shame comes from, and as men who have sex with men, we are non completely free of that. It's very important that nosotros be careful not to injure ourselves, not to do it as well frequently, not to strain too much. In my ascertainment around queer men, this fear really a lot of times stops them from enjoying and existence spontaneous virtually sex." Information technology's a brilliant point that hadn't really struck me until Ahmad articulated it. Poop is gross, that'south a given, only maybe the never-ending quest to eradicate information technology forever, no thing the price, is besides taking a cost on our sex lives. I don't know a gay man on this planet, myself included, who hasn't been on both sides of this struggle (to the cute professor I hooked up with in Brooklyn in 2009, I'm nevertheless sad about your couch). If we're going to exist supporting each other every bit a sex-positive community, we can't resort to shaming each other or ourselves when something as natural equally defecating occurs, no matter how icky the circumstances. As the proverb goes, shit happens.