Everything you need to know about your butt – from how SMART it is to whether it should be cleaned or washed

IN the latest installment in our series of weird and wonderful facts about the body, we were at the upper end of the gastrointestinal tract, talking about the mouth.

This week we are on the other side, in your anus!

two

two

When thinking about buttocks, our focus tends to be on the buttocks.

The fascination with shapely butts may seem like a contemporary obsession, but it has actually been around for centuries.

But there’s more to butts than just their shape.

From how your anus can tell the difference between liquids and solids, to why you grow butt hair and which direction to wipe – here are some bizarre butt facts.

1. Your anus is a lot smarter than you probably think

The anus – the opening at the end of the large intestine – is a sphincter, which actually has two parts: the internal and external sphincters.

They need to relax so you can open your bowels and poop.

Your anus doesn’t store feces and neither does the rectum, which is the part of the intestine just above the anus.

In fact, the rectum only fills with poop when you need to go to the bathroom and then empties when you poop.

The nerves in the rectum and anus communicate with the brain so the anus knows the difference between a gas, a liquid and a solid – after all, you tend to know whether you need to fart, poop or have diarrhea!

Added to this, the high concentration of nerve endings in the anus makes it an erogenous zone for many, leading to sexual pleasure.

2. Your anus may be cleaner than you think!

There are literally millions of bacteria in our gut, known as the gut microbiome, and the more we discover about the gut microbiome, the more we realize how important it is!

So yes, there will be a lot of bacteria present in the anus, but there is no poop and feces stored in the anus or rectum unless you are constipated.

This means that douching is not necessary before anal sex and can be harmful.

3. Which came first: the mouth or the anus?

Certain parts of the body develop before others during embryo development.

For example, nipples form before the Y chromosome comes into play during fetal development, which is why men have nipples.

When it comes to the anus, for humans, the mouth develops before the anus, but this is not the case for all animals.

4. Your anus is elastic

The default position of the anal sphincters is closed and they need to relax and open for you to poop.

But if you look at the anus itself, it is wrinkled and puckered as it needs to open and stretch so you can have a bowel movement, which can be different sizes.

You may have a tear in your anus, called an anal fissure, and this is often related to constipation.

An anal fissure causes symptoms such as rectal bleeding and a sharp pain when opening the intestines, often described as sharp like a knife or a stab with a piece of glass.

If you notice any rectal bleeding, see your doctor.

Treatment for anal fissures includes laxatives so that you don’t strain when you have a bowel movement and to allow your body to heal.

5. It’s not a bunch of grapes!

One of the most common problems of the anus is hemorrhoids, or hemorrhoids, which are dilated blood vessels, such as varicose veins, in and around the anus.

They may look like a small bunch of grapes, but they are actually blood vessels.

Like anal fissures, they are often related to constipation and can present symptoms such as pain, bleeding and itching.

They can be treated with creams and ointments, suppositories, and procedures such as hemorrhoid bandages.

However, if you experience rectal bleeding, consult your GP, do not assume it is haemorrhoids as rectal bleeding can be a sign of bowel cancer.

As for old wives’ tales about how sitting on a radiator can cause hemorrhoids, there’s no evidence to suggest this is true.

6. Yes, your bottom sweats

We all sweat and it’s true that you can get sweaty on your buttocks and anus.

Your buttocks are two areas of skin that continually rub together when you walk.

Sweat helps lubricate this, preventing friction and sore butt skin.

There are also glands in the anus, which produce secretions to help keep things lubricated when you poop.

In animals, these secretions help animals identify each other and mark their territory, but although humans do not do this, the glands are still present.

7. Hair has a purpose

Just like pubic hair, the hair around the butt and anus also serves a purpose, helping to keep the area warm and well lubricated and helping to prevent irritation.

8. Clean or wash?

Humans have wiped their butts with all kinds of things over the millennia, from leaves to corncob husks, from newspaper to toilet paper, and simply using their hands and water.

The anus is covered by skin and, like other areas of the skin, can be irritated by soaps and cleansers.

Even excessive cleaning and rubbing of the anus can cause irritation.

This causes itching, which in turn can make you groom yourself and scratch even more, leading to a cycle of scratching and scratching. Therefore, wash gently with warm water and a mild, unscented soap.

Be sure to wipe or wash gently after a bowel movement.

As for the direction of cleaning, it doesn’t really matter to adults, as – although the vagina and anus are close together – most adult women are quite precise when it comes to cleaning!

However, the advice for children is to clean from front to back, as they are generally less thorough when cleaning and can leave poop around their genitals, causing irritation.

9. No need to sunbathe!

It’s been trending on social media recently, but perineal sunbathing, where you expose your anus and perineum (area of ​​skin between your genitals and anus) to the sun, is not recommended!

It’s literally known as the area where the sun doesn’t shine, and exposing it to the sun has no proven health benefits.

Instead, it increases the risk of sunburn and skin cancer, avoid it!

10. Big or small butts, the fascination has been around for centuries

Moving away from the anus, the fascination with the size and shape of the buttocks and buttocks has been around for centuries.

There is an ancient Roman statue called the Venus Callipyge, which is believed to be a copy of an Ancient Greek original from centuries past.

The name Venus Callipyge literally means Venus of the beautiful buttocks that are exposed on the statue – showing that we have been looking at the bottom for millennia!

11. Having a big butt can be good for you

Women tend to have larger buttocks than men, as the hormone estrogen means the body is more likely to accumulate fat in the buttocks, hips and thighs rather than around the belly.

In fact, this may be one of the reasons why women live longer than men, as the fat around the belly and organs is metabolically active and increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.