Health & Safety Guide

Width Play

Just as in depth play, it is equally important to not over exert yourself when working on stretch play. You would likely be surprised to know how much the asshole is capable of expanding when totally relaxed. The truth is that a lot of what you are fighting against when opening up is stress stored up in that inner sphincter, or otherwise the apprehension for injury.

An Analogy

Experience has shown that the skin and muscles still need to be conditioned over time to develop the capacity to stretch, much in the way that an athlete develops and maintains muscular flexibility. I’ll draw an analogy here to what you would do to begin strength training in your legs for example, gradually stretching your muscles over time until eventually you are able to sit on the floor, leg extended and touch your nose to your knee. What is happening is that you are gently tearing your muscles on the cellular level and allowing them to regrow to fill in the gaps, effectively lengthening and strengthening your muscle over time. I figure the same must also go for the sphincters, since they are muscles too and this is how I approached my own stretch training. A gradual cycle of stretching and adequate rest between (3 or 4 days) to safely build up your hole for play seems to be good practice. Once you’ve developed the capacity to stretch, you’ll pretty much keep it for a long while, as long as you play every now and then of course.

Strength Training

This is as good a place to dispel a common fear to those wanting to get into bigger toys and fisting. “Will I become incontinent and will I be so loose that guys won’t like fucking me anymore?” In short the answer is a resounding “no”. Just because a muscle can stretch doesn’t follow that it has no tone or strength, in fact, it should have more. Think of gymnasts and their ability to bend and yet be strong and toned. They can still walk even though their legs are super flexible. I’m not saying your hole will spring back immediately after a good play session, it usually takes several hours to a day, but you eventually regain your muscle tone and then some. It’s been my own personal experience that strengthening your hole in this way will actually make it stronger and give you more control over the autonomous muscles, giving you the ability to grip and make you tighter than someone that never plays with their hole.

Choice of Materials

I often get questions about a burning sensation that develops during aggressive stretch play and the concern that they might be tearing themselves from playing too wide. It’s often been determined in these cases that it’s not the type of lube or any micro-tearing that is going on, but rather the chemicals in the toy itself that are burning the lining of the hole and rectum when the tissue is stretched thin and at its most vulnerable.  The recommendation is that any toy with a strong chemical odor, or marked as “novelty use only”, should be not be used.