Anal Toy Basics: A Guide for Beginners

Whether you’re looking to step up your anal sex game or want to try out solo stimulation, anal toys can excellent for everyone.

Learning how to safely and enjoyably use an anal toy can be tricky. Often trial and error are common for those using one for the first time. To help ease your adventure and make your anal play pleasurable, we’ve created this beginner’s guide to answer all your anal toy questions.

Why do people use Anal Toys?

Any anal play or insertion can be a fulfilling and rewarding part of anyone’s sex life, whatever your circumstances. For men, it can be extremely fulfilling as the prostate is an erotic hotspot, which can trigger an intense orgasm. Women can also be stimulated by anal penetration, as the internal vaginal nerves can be stimulated anally.

Toys provide an important role in anal penetration. Some help to ease people towards penile-anal penetration, others allow people to step up their anal play, allowing for larger toys to be inserted.

Preparation is key

If you’re used to anal penetration via a partner, you might already know the importance of preparation. Failing to clean out your system before trying out anal can result in a serious mess, so use an anal douche beforehand to ensure your anal play stays safe and clean.

Along with douching, always ensure you have plenty of lubricant on hand to ease insertion. If needed, you can even use a lube with an anal numbing agent in it (like our Waterbased Anal Love Lube)to make the experience more comfortable.

How to use an Anal Toy

If you are thinking of trying any type of anal sex or insertion it is vitally important that you take things slowly and use plenty of lubricant. Some form of foreplay is also advisable, such as a slimline sex toy or finger. Some anal sex toys are designed for beginners, with a smaller girth and tapered tip for easy and gentle insertion.

When choosing a toy, think about the texture of the surface and avoid anything with rough or sharp edges. Anal beads are ideal, as are very slim vibrators. Butt Plugs are popular because they have a conical form with a pointed end, and a wider base so they help to ease the muscles wider.

Try using the tip of the toy or a finger to massage a little lubricant into the anus, to begin with, and work from there.

Very gently increase the amount of the toy or finger that you insert and do stop or use more lubricant if you feel any pain at all. The gentle movements and lubricant help to relax the tight internal muscles, and once loosened it should be easy and satisfying to use any anal toy or perform anal sex.

Learn more about long-term butt plug wear in Shepherd Express’ article: Long-term Plug Wear

Cleaning up afterwards

As recommended when using any toy, ensure your anal toy is thoroughly cleaned after use. Using a specially formulated toy cleaner helps to ensure no nasty bacteria stays on the toy between uses and is generally considered good hygiene when using any form of sex toy.

Along with clean-up, we recommend never using the same toy for both anal and vaginal penetration. This can spread harmful bacteria to your most sensitive areas, so it’s best to keep these toys separate.

If you’re ready for the wonderful world of anal play, check out our range of Anal Toys here.