Dry enema
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2008-07-10T01:18:37Z
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It is not a weasel.
{{Unreferenced|date=March 2008}}
A '''dry enema''' is an alternative technique for cleansing the human [[rectum]] either for reasons of health, or for sexual hygiene. It is accomplished by introducing a small amount of sterile [[lubricant]] into the rectum, resulting in a [[bowel movement]] more quickly and with less violence than can be achieved by an oral [[laxative]].
It is called "dry" by contrast to the more usual [[enema|wet enema]], because no water is used.
A rudimentary form of 'dry' enema is the use of a non-medicated [[glycerin]] [[suppository]]. However due to the relative hardness of the suppository - necessary for its insertion into the human body - before the glycerin can act, it must be melted by the heat of the body, and hence it does not take effect for up to an hour. Often the [[hygroscopic]] glycerin irritates the sensitive membranes of the rectum resulting in forceful expulsion of the suppository without any [[laxative]] effects.
[[Image:Syringe.jpg|thumb|329px|A disposable syringe]]
A quicker form of the dry enema utilizes the [[injection]] of a small amount of water-based [[lubricant]] such as [[KY Jelly|K-Y]] into the rectum via a non-hypodermic [[syringe]], such as an oral syringe, or from some other source.
The usual amount of lubricant applied is about 2 tsp (10 cc), which will produce a movement in 30 minutes or less. The movement will be produced in a compact body, rather than in the more copious liquid form produced by a wet enema; and since no water is used, none will be retained higher up in the [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]], to be expelled at a later, and possibly inconvenient, time.
A further advantage of this technique for [[sexual hygiene]] is that any slight remaining traces of fecal material will - due to the presence of the lubricant - tend to adhere to the wall of the [[rectum]] rather than to any foreign object which may subsequently be inserted.
[[Category:Sexual health]]
[[Category:Laxatives]]