If you've ever seen a butt plug, you know it looks something like the spades suit on a deck of cards: It starts at a point, flares out, and then cinches back in. But there's also one very important feature that anything you're planning to stick in your butt has to have: a flared base.
Having a solid base that's larger than your butthole is essential for anal play. When someone is putting their penis in your anus, their body is the base. When you're using sex toys made to go into your butt, then you best believe they'll have a flared base. And if you're sticking anything else in your butt...be careful.
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Having a base to your anal sex toys is essential because of the anatomy of a typical anus. There are two circular muscles called sphincters around our buttholes, and we can't control them in the ways we can most other muscles. Sphincters are closed in their natural, resting state and they open when we engage them, says Laura Deitsch, DHS, a sexologist who works with Vibrant, a body-safe adult online retailer. "So if something is more than halfway up there, the muscle is going to naturally draw the object in and then close behind it," she says. You definitely don't want that.
If you put something that doesn't have a flared base into your anus, the sphincter muscles are going to suck it up and trap it inside your rectum. And then the only way to get it out is a trip to the emergency room. "Things without a flared base can easily slip into the anal cavity and cause serious harm," Dr. Deitsch says. "Just check out the TV show, 'Sex Sent me to the ER' for a primer on why flared bases are so important."
So, if you want to experiment with anal play, stick to sex toys made to go inside your butt. Dr. Deitsch suggest butt plugs like the Ditto Vibrating Plug by We-Vibe, The Perfect Plug Kit by Tantus, and the Pure Plug by NJOY.