Communication Is Everything
Whether you’re having penetrative sex, receiving oral, or using anal beads, communication is essential. It can enhance arousal and decrease pain. In fact, we don’t recommend using any numbing products! Pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong, so if you can’t feel it, how will you know if something is wrong? After the numbing wears off, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. Instead, minimize pain through arousal, comfort, and communication.
Because communication is so essential, you shouldn’t play when you’re unable to communicate clearly, whether it’s inebriation or a ball gag that’s stopping you. Of course, if you can’t vocalize, you can use an alternative system such as tapping out or dropping a ball. Kinksters often rely on such methods to make sure their BDSM scenes are safe.
Remove Them at the Peak of Pleasure
Some people find that anal beads give the greatest pleasure when slowly removed one by one right before orgasm or when arousal is high. Of course, there are no hard-and-fast rules about how to use anal beads, so figure out what feels good for you and your partner.
Whatever you do, don’t insert anal beads that are bigger than you can handle. There might be a little resistance and pressure when you insert a bead, but it shouldn’t be painful. Listen to your body’s response and trust it. If you want to handle larger anal beads and toys, check out our guide to anal training.
You Can Use Them Vaginally… But Not Without Cleaning Them First
Anal beads might be intended to used, well, anally, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment! This is true for many sex toys that are designed for one purpose but can be adapted to another–as long as you keep safety in mind.
You can give butt beads a try vaginally. You can use most of the techniques. However, there’s one important caveat: you never want to insert toys vaginally after they’ve directly been in your anus. This can introduce bacteria that lead to an unpleasant infection known as bacterial vaginosis, which is caused by changes in the amount of certain types of bacteria in your vagina.
So make sure to give your anal beads a thorough washing before trying them vaginally. We don’t recommend wipes because water is necessary to remove fecal matter. There are ways to get your anal balls even cleaner as long as they’re made from nonporous materials such as silicone, glass, or metal.