Serious question about health risks in anal sex-play

Factual Questions
1

More specifically–a question about the practice of ‘fisting’, so those of you who don’t know what it is, are disgusted by it, or can’t think of it without giggling like a schoolgirl should turn away now.

I’m researching this for a friend of mine who wants to know the health risks involved (Just so all ya pervs don’t get any ideas about me! :wink: )

Besides the very obvious risks (make sure your nails are trimmed and use lots of lube), can anyone out there give me any leads on what other kind of long-term risks there are of this practice? No risk is too big or too small to be posted–I’d rather I be too thorough for my friend than not thorough enough.

Thanks.

-With Sincerity, Ashley

2

Repeated long-term (dont ask me how long long-term is) anal fisting can lead to a loosening of the anal sphincter and thus incontinence.

3

Utter crap bryan, although you are not in a position to know it.

Many medical texts, books of sex advice and gay journals loser their cool over anal sex involving manual stimulation or “handballing”, and make hysterical claims that stem from personal distaste and not from facts.

The penetration of the anus by a hand is only possible because the muscles of that area can be consciously relaxed. The learned control over those muscles actually increases their effectiveness, and men I know who are into “fisting” show no loss of sphincter control, and indeed, can call the muscles into action to increase pleasure for ordinary anal intercourse.

In brief, in terms of safety:
*the insertive partner should be drug-free, and able to control what’s happening, even if the receptive partner wants to use drugs.
*cleanliness of the receptive partner is important and thorough douching is called for.
*thorough work on the nails of the insertive partner is vital.
*playing with an experienced partner is the best way to learn

Ashtar there is a book available from any good gay bookstore called “Trust: the handbook” by Bert Herrman. Your friend should buy it. There is also a handballing digest from a newsgroup I’m sure he’ll be able to find as well. (Or she).

It’s serious stuff, learning and being prepared, but it is indeed a spiritual kind of journey - quite different from the disgusting image people have.

I don’t wish to convert anybody, but readers, don’t dismiss this stuff because of prejudice. It may not be to your taste, and you may never participate in it. But to understand that the pleasure and intensity involved can lead to lasting and meaningful connections between people may increase your understanding of life’s complexity.

If you don’t get that, then you shouldn’t have entered the thread, should you?
Redboss

4

Yeesh, Redboss, you forgot Rule #1: Wash your hands.

(And no, I’m not making a joke)

5

is this a homothing only? I thought this was an Urban Legend. There is definitely something wrong with this picture.

6

Not pure crap.

Take a look here

http://www.thebody.com/dwolfe/menlikeus1.html

I quote

Even without these emergencies, opening the sphincter wide enough to take an arm or large dildo can cause the sphincter muscles to lose their tone, and make it harder for you to tell whether you’re passing gas or fecal matter. The stories about older fistees in diapers are exaggerated, says Dr. Stephen Goldstone of New York City, but they’re not pure fiction.

Simple fact is the sphincter is NOT designed to take a fist. It may take one but over time it can become loose.
And I am in a position to know what I am talking about.

7

Thanks for the info, all…your input is much appreciated.

Justin, From my experience, Fisting/Handballing is predominant among gay couples, but I’ve heard of women who are into it, too.

The whole practice isn’t something I’d given a lot of thought to before my friend asked me to research it for him. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll meet someone experienced who can teach me more about it ‘firsthand’. :wink:

-Ashley

8

Also, fisting isn’t isn’t neccessarily anal, the same technique can be used vaginally. Helps to have samll hands, though.

9

i would think that vaginal fisting would be a walk in the park as opposed to anal, considering vaginas produce human heads on occasion.

jarbaby

10

Justin, you may not realize that some of us are more offended by terms like “homothing” than we are by descriptions of sexual practices that other people enjoy. I’m not going to censor you, but I’d like to ask that you use less judgmental sounding names for people. - Jill

11

Now, I know nothing of the specifics of this practically or medically, but I have watched my share of porn. Now, I’m not claiming this to be any kind of definative evidence of what is myth and what is reality, but I’ll offer it anyways.

I’ve seen a few apparently experinced female performers who have a specialty of both anal and vaginal fisting, and take it to extreme proportions. (Read: 2 hands/arms and 2 liter bottles, etc) Now, I suppose this is due to crossing some threshhold of practicability, but these women have some very obvious signs of what I assumed to be permanent distortion of the anus. There was no incontinence that I saw (thankfully), but the anus was indeed what I would call other than normal.

Hows that for non-professional and uncited information? Anyways, I’m sure the mods are steadfastly opposed to links of that nature anyways ;).

Considering the topic at hand, I think there’s going to need to be alot of consideration on any information provided for one side of the other of a debate since it probably hits to the point of being dogma for some.

12

::Rim job::

I mean

::Rim Shot::

13

I’d like to add a rule:

For any kind of potentially painful activities, you and your partner should have a pre-arranged “code word”. Moaning, yelping, etc. can be misinterpreted. However, one person suddenly shouting “Bonanza Jellybean!” would get the required attention (and the agreed response) pretty easily.

[sub]My apologies to Tom Robbins and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.[/sub]

14

Cecil had the following to say

This is taken from his article debunking the legends of “hamster stuffing”, but his comments in this case were not related to hamsters. I was curious if there had been any debate over this particular comment, but a search in “comments on Cecil’s columns” for the word “hamster” produced no responses

15

That’s probably because Cecil was talking about gerbils, not hamsters.

Anyway, fisting and rectal foreign bodies are one of the favored topics over at my old Usenet hangout, alt.tasteless. There are a lot of ULs surrounding this practice. In fact, my mom just sent me one about the gerbil being shot out of the ignited rectum a couple days ago.

Also, the medical cases of rectal foreign bodies usually include something other than fists or dildos. I remember one story about an elderly British man who used an old WWII mortar “to reinsert his everted rectum”… which turned out to be live! The only dildo I’ve seen on the Butt Page (which I won’t link to) was one that was narrow, but didn’t have a wide end to prevent it from being overinserted and lodged. You gotta be dumb, indeed…

And, Omniscient, if the girls I’ve seen of are the one’s you’re writing about, then yes, they have taken fisting and giant dildos to amazing proportions… but they work at stretching themselves out, wearing those giant toys inside them, under their clothes, as they go about their business. Don’t ask me why!!

Finally, there’s one other risk to anal fisting, and that’s the use of poppers - volatile nitrate inhalants - as muscle relaxants to aid in dilating the anus. These volatile nitrates are extremely hard on the lungs, and lower your immune system. And if you’re also a smoker… fugeddaboutit! They have also been linked to a condition known as Kaposi’s Sarcoma, but this evidence has been questioned.

16

Well, I guess there has been some discussion about the link I provided to Cecil’s column after all.

[sub](slapping self on head) Gergils not hamsters damn it! If I keep up these stupid mistakes someone is going to start a pit thread! [/sub]

17

but would it not be in the best interest of both partners engaged in this type of play to have the insertive partner glove up in addition to using lots of lube?

Non-sterile latex exam gloves are incredibly cheap, less than $10.00 for a box of 100. If latex allergy needs to be taken into consideration, there are latex free gloves available called nitrile gloves. They are available in different sizes, so they can be as snug or as loose as you prefer. Never having engaged in this type of play, I would imagine that a snug fit would be best for all concerned. If the insertive partner doesn’t like the loss of sensation a glove would cause, surgical quality gloves are even tighter fitting and are designed to keep loss of sensation at a minimum, but are considerably more expensive than the exam gloves.

One consideration if using latex gloves is to be absolutely sure you are using a water based lubricant. An oil based lubricant will degrade the latex.

It seems to me that any body substance isolation precaution that is that cheap and readily available couldn’t be that much of a problem to use. Think of it as a “hand condom”.

18

Latex gloves are indeed a sensible idea, and you are indeed perceptive deej to think about the minority who do have a latex allergy, and suggest nitrile gloves.

In terms of damage to receptive partners, I reiterate what I’ve said. I hope I didn’t sound too rude bryan in my response to you, but I took your words to be dismissive and founded on a lack of understanding. Your thoughtful response has made your position clearer, but I am still wanting to disagree with your sources.

The Men Like Us reference has all the hall-marks of a trustworthy site. However it contains a familiar phrase, in the sentence “The inner walls of the lower colon, often described as having the consistency of wet paper towels, are soft and easily torn.”

Those “wet paper towels” are also referred to in The Joy Of Gay Sex, and the phrase had me fearful for years. The fact is that tiny tears in the lining of that area can easily occur during anal intercourse, and with the presence of any object there. But unlike a wet paper towel, the walls of the lower colon do not give way and collapse into a sodden mass. They are strong and have continuing integrity.

Look - human beings write sex manuals, and like all of us are likely to transfer their own fears and fantasies into what they compile. Discussion of women’s enjoyment of the sexual act in medical texts from the turn of the century are hair-raising reading today. As a teenager, I was repeatedly informed that my homosexuality was caused by my mothers domineering ways and my father’s feeble interactions with me - a laughable theory in 2001.

True, I have seen a prolapsed rectum, which I am sure was caused by repeated vigorous use of very large dildoes by the person who owned it. My understanding is that it can also be caused by straining during bowel movements.

But there are far too many people I have met who have been receptive partners in handballing for many years, who have retained strong muscle control in the sphincter, and who have no problems such as those described in the sources available, for me to any longer take that information at face value.

Note that I’m not saying that this anecdotal evidence is proof. Merely that it causes me to examine the proferred evidence with scepticism and to suggest that it is in fact another form of anecdotal evidence, that no scientific studies appear to have been undertaken, and that, in my opinion, it’s suspect.

I am now looking for a thread on flowers and butterflies and pixies, as um, a restorative. See you all there…

Redboss

19

In the 80’s I learned about the FFA, Fist Fuckers of America. You can ask them, they are active today. I won’t post any URLs, but you can find them from a search.

20

Yeah, but judging from some of the remarks insofar, apparently some of those heads are devoid of brain matter :mad:

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