Rimming

OK - I'm suitably chastened. We don't do it a lot - but in the future I'll keep the recent shower thing in mind. My girl's a teacher so she get's exposed to everything! I don't let her do me - it isn't that enjoyable for me and she doesn't need the added exposure. But it isn't likely that I'll give it up - hopefully my immune system stays strong. less

Hey, Gun, no reason to feel chastened. I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions. As I said, none of this is a reason NOT to engage in this activity, but just to be aware and to keep hygiene at a premium. Even more so than when engaging in penetrative anal sex.

I knew all this stuff, and once My Man got terribly ill from a poorly timed rim job. It was near the end of a session, (I was clean but a lot had been going on during that session, he tried the rimming near the end, and my guess is bacteria had somehow been brought to the end by our actions) he got a nasty GI infection, was sick as could be, and recovered quickly and well. But, we still both knew why it happened. I felt bad, he still wants to do it to me, I usually stop in in favor of other activities (see Nina Hartley's video on the subject someone else posted)

I wasn't trying to rain on anyone's parade, just that there is no guarantee of "immunity" to other's bacteria nor to one's own.

It's fun, but care needs to be taken.

Sex and lies, I've always been a bratty little know-it-all. less

Hey, Gun, no reason to feel chastened. I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions. As I said, none of this is a reason NOT to engage in this activity, but just to be aware and to keep hygiene at a premium. Even more so than when engaging in penetrative anal sex.

I knew all this stuff, and once My Man got terribly ill from a poorly timed rim job. It was near the end of a session, (I was clean but a lot had been going on during that session, he tried the rimming near the end, and my guess is bacteria had somehow been brought to the end by our actions) he got a nasty GI infection, was sick as could be, and recovered quickly and well. But, we still both knew why it happened. I felt bad, he still wants to do it to me, I usually stop in in favor of other activities (see Nina Hartley's video on the subject someone else posted)

I wasn't trying to rain on anyone's parade, just that there is no guarantee of "immunity" to other's bacteria nor to one's own.

It's fun, but care needs to be taken.

Sex and lies, I've always been a bratty little know-it-all. less

I like being rimmed but perhaps I overdue on the cleanliness issue. Looking at the list of concerns, calls for more caution. I usually am concerned by on what I "see" not on what might be present. My b/f usually uses a condom for anal...just in case. I will put a condom on the dil I use when I peg him. He doesn't want to be rimmed, says it does nothing for him. less

The human digestive tract is dynamic. It is always changing and the bacterial count and content is changing all the time, it is not static. Most people have a different intestinal flora and bacterail profile today than they had even a week or so ago.

There is little evidence that ALL the bacteria you have is also shared with your partner. In most cases, some bacteria is shared, but most people have completely individualized and also constantly changing intestinal bacterial profiles.

Also one is not "immune" to one's own fecal bacteria nor to the bacteria in one's lower bowel. Most people can become just as ill from oral ingestion of their own bacteria as to exposure to someone else's. The bacterial count, the amount accidentally consumed, the immune system of each partner and sometimes simple luck are all players in which bacterium are taken care of by the giver's immune system, and which may colonize with less than pleasant conditions and outcomes.

Rimming should always be done with this in mind and with absolute cleanliness. Immediate washing before (anal douching is not really necessary, unless you are a person with a "sticky" lower colon. And in some cases, it can bring more bacteria from higher up in the colon to the anal opening and provide more of a chance of contamination) and/or a dental dam or other barrier is ideal for the best protection.

Also, the person performing the rimming activity's own immune system plays a part in who is able to tolerate a small amount of bacteria and who may not be able to.

There are a LOT of bacterial species in the lower bowel. Anal sex can be a very engaging, rewarding and fun activity, but cleanliness should always be the first thought. One is NOT "immune" to one's partner's bowel bacteria, just because they have spent a lot of time together even if that time consists of anal play. Just as one is not always "immune" to one's own bacterial profiles at the moment.

Here are just a few of the bacterium that can colonize in the bowel, some are fairly harmless and some can make people quite sick.


Salmonella
Shigella
Yersinia
Campylobacter Aeromonas
Candida
E. coli, many varieties
Cryptosporidium
Entamoeba histolytica

Bacteroides species
B. acidifaciens
B. distasonis (reclassified as Parabacteroides distasonis)
B. gracilis
B. fragilis
B. oris
B. ovatus
B. putredinis
B. pyogenes
B. stercoris
B. suis
B. tectus
B. thetaiotaomicron
B. vulgatus

This list is by NO means complete.

This is not to discourage any anal play, including rimming, which can be not only fun, but a very intense and bonding sexual experience. I just needed to say that one should not have a false sense of safety or security, lest good hygiene be forgotten. Some people simply have immune systems that cannot handle even small quantities of intestinal bacteria consumed orally. Their bodies colonize bacteria quickly, they may become sick easily from rimming activities and even they they are in long term relationships, there is always the chance that your partner has at least half a dozen pathogens or more you yourself do not have in your colon, or that you simply are don't have the type of immune system which can tolerate even small amounts of these bacteria.

I just didn't want people to get the wrong idea that simply being intimate with someone was a "guarantee" that you won't on occasion get sick. There are no guarantees, even if you and your partner have been together many years. less