Always Hands Free?

I haven’t and wouldn’t,some have and hurt themselves. Need less pressure in your head,not more pressure on the toy.

One time during a session I felt like I was ever so close to orgasm, I took the tip of my finger and stroked the end of the aneros very lightly, like you were stroking a clit.
I could feel the light stroking like I was actually stroking my prostrate and I brought myself to a wonderful orgasm. It was very light stroking, barely touching the aneros

I often massage my perinieum around the p tab without touching the device itself.

I’m a frequent user of the nJoy PureWand along with my Aneros toys. The wand is much more of a manual operation device than Aneros products, and is designed to be moved and massaged over the prostate or g-spot. That said, I get the best response from the wand hands free, by placing it on my prostate and just letting it sit there, letting the weight of the wand apply pressure to the spot. If you are curious about manually stimulating your prostate, I’d try the PureWand or similar device, and let your Aneros products operate hands-free as intended.

@Tommygunn have people really hurt themselves? I’d be curious to see the thread. It seems surprising to me. I have a candy cane shaped glass dildo that I used to massage my prostate with, and I would get pretty rough ramming it against my prostate (per-aneros days) without ever hurting myself. And I watch gay porn sometimes and some of those guys take it really hard. That said, when I bump the handle of my helix (the backwards facing bit) it is really uncomfortable, but I figure it’s because I have been focusing on micro stimuli for minutes/hours. Like making a loud noise in a microphone with the gain up high, or turning a bright light on your eyes at night...

@divine_oblivion sure they have,ramming can do it,sat on them can do it,I’m sure I saw a comment from @rumel somewhere that he injured his prostate some years ago from too much pressure,and it took a bit of time to heal. (If I’m mistaken I apologise).I think it best to stick to the handsfree design of Aneros,but of course,whatever floats your boat. I wouldn’t do anything to risk permanent damage that might cause the benefits of prostate play to be lost.

I wondered whether indeed other users also made some manual intervention rather than just relying on hands free?

Yes, there have been hundreds of posts were users have reported manual manipulation of their massagers during a session. A few posts have also reported minor discomfort and/or pain following such sessions, it may impossible to determine the exact causality of such discomfort due to possible alternate causes other than direct manual manipulation.

... have people really hurt themselves? I’d be curious to see the thread. It seems surprising to me.

As @Tommygunn noted above I did post about my self inflicted injury from using a non-Aneros device many years ago. Over the years on this forum there have been numerous reports from users about soreness and/or discomfort from their Aneros usage. Sometimes this is just a result of muscle fatigue (too much/too long a session), sometimes it is a result of inadequate lubrication causing irritation or a mild allergic response, it might be because of a rare rectal anomaly or hemorrhoids but sometimes it is a result of intense manual manipulation.

The human body did not evolve to adapt to the intense focused stimulation of today's hi-tek sex toys. Manual manipulation does have the distinct possibility to cause pain and/or damage to the prostate despite how careful the user thinks he is being, this is especially true if a partner is involved with the manipulation. It is far too easy to become overly excited and start thinking more pressure or faster thrusting will bring on more pleasure and thus accidentally injure yourself in the process. The connective tissues between all the various organs of the uro-genital tract (bladder, prostate, urethra, vas defrens, seminal vesicles, ejaculatory ducts, Cowper's gland, etc.), while flexible, are also rather delicate and can easily be torn if stretched too far. Additionally overly vigorous massage action can rupture tiny capillaries in the associated tissues causing bruising and minor nerve damage. Aneros does not want to assume any liability for injuries caused by ill advised excessive pressure. Please read the Safety section in the Aneros WIKI.

@divine_oblivion , so far you've been fortunate not to have injured yourself but common sense dictates you use restraint with any such energetic exercise. The oft quoted saying "Apply no more pressure to your prostate than you would as if rubbing your eyeball." applies here. Minor manipulation of your Aneros device is probably relatively safe but the danger lies in becoming overly excited in the throes of orgasmic bliss and exert more pressure than the tissues can accommodate. IMHO, the admonition to use your Aneros massagers 'hands free' as recommended by the manufacturer is the wisest and safest path forward.
Good Vibes to You !