My rectum curves away from my prostate

Even within the range of anatomic variations, there should be no case where the anterior aspect of the lower rectum is a great distance from the prostate. Higher up, the rectum closely follows the sacrum posteriorly so it would not be abnormal with an empty rectum and a fully comfortably inserted lubricated finger to feel the lower sacrum (tail bone) posterior to the rectum. However, going in and feeling anteriorly, once you slip your finger through the outer and then over the inner anal sphincter, you should be able to feel your prostate. If it is a healthy, small prostate it should feel like a firm rounded structure about the size of a chestnut or slightly larger and there should be a little, "ahhh, that's a funny kind of good feeling" sensation when you gently slide you finger over the surface of it where the nerves are that are stimulated by the Aneros.

I don't know your general age range. If you have prostatitis or an enlarged prostate, the gland can feel indistinct and uncomfortable with even gentle palpation. I would suggest too, particularly if you are over 40, that you see your friendly urologist or a general physician familiar with doing men's exams and get him to feel the area. I'll bet you're normal as anyone else there, and that there's some simple reason why you feel you're not getting the contact with your gland you feel you should.

The different Aneros models can accommodate to slight variations within the range of normal male anatomy quite well, so trying one or two different models can often solve that feeling of "I'm not getting good contact and positioning". Also, it's not unusual for the P-tab to get "off center" during a session, particularly if, as some guys do, you have an erection during your session as the root of the penis extends almost to the anus and engorgement of the penile tissues creates a "hump" in your perineum where the P-tab has to ride, thus making the P-tab a little more prone to sliding off to one side or the other. I can't imagine a scenario where it turns completely to the side or to the back as the tail of the Aneros riding in your butt crack acts as a rudder to prevent that kind of rotation.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response, I would like to clarify that the P-tab does actually completely slide off track, this is not something I am making up, nor is it something that happens ocassionally, it happens every single time I relax my spinchter during the excercises, when you relax your sphincter the Aneros slightly pops out so the tail no longer sits inside your but crack and as soon as that happens it immedeatly gets pulled into a position where the tail ends up on my left but cheek by a 45 degree angle, it seems to always end up in that same awkaward position every time, only when I contract my sphincter and the Aneros becomes fully inserted then my "butt crack acts as a rudder to prevent that kind of rotation".

When I insert my index finger in to the rectum I can actually grab my thumb which is on the outside on my butt and surpsingly there is only a thin bit of skin between my rectal wall where my index finger is and where my thumb is on the outside so this should give you an indication how close the curve is towards the outside edge rather then towards the prostate where it should be. When you insert the aneros I can bet the tip of it slides in facing towards the direction of your belly button where as mine goes in on an angle facing my tailbone, how can this be normal ? I wish I was exagarating but the fact you seem sceptical is even more of a worry for me because obviously whats hapenning to me is beyond belief.

Also when the Aneros is fully inserted due to a contracted sphincter muscle the tip of it touches something that is very uncomfortable and painful and it is not my prostate I can assure you because the tip is facing my tailbone. When I ejaculated today with the Aneros inside i was in agony because of the contraction caused by the ejaculation sucked the Aneros deep inside and the tip hit against that painful spot which I assume is a sharp cuve in the rectal wall.

Hello Twinkle, 🙂

Get yourself checked out by a medical professional. Slimjim has given you some good advice. And I don't think he necessarily disbelieves you. It's just probably statistically unlikely. Without having a doctor visually see and/or feels what is going on up there, there is no way for anyone here in the forum or yourself know if this is indeed true what you are describing about the way you think your body is. And if it is, and Aneros prostate massager's won't work for you, then at least you bought the MGX that has a 90 day money back guarantee. I hope you are able to resolve this issue one way or another.

Love_is

Hi Twinkle,

Welcome to the Aneros Forums,

This image accurately depicts the proper insertion location of your Aneros massager. The tip of the Aneros (while inside the rectum) pushes against the prostate gland. The walls of the rectum are very flexible and elastic, they will easily stretch to accommodate the shape of the Aneros. When the anal sphincter muscles are contracted, the Aneros with its P-tab arm is pushed up into the prostate and thus massages it. The P-tab also acts as an anchor/fulcrum/pivot point. When the contraction takes place the Aneros will rotate slightly about the center point of the P-tab thus pushing the tip of the Aneros forward into the prostate for added massage action. With both the Helix & Eupho models it is not necessary (nor really practical) to attempt to insert all the way to the "T" junction.

Upon insertion of your Aneros the proper orientation occurs automatically and naturally. The Aneros are already designed with a forward canted shape to be directed at the prostate, the P-tab assures correct orientation and alignment. Pinpoint accuracy of prostate engagement is NOT necessary. It does NOT require much force or pressure to stimulate the prostate sufficiently to generate the P-Wave phenomenon. As you become more experienced with your massager you will find it requires less and less pressure to generate P-waves, to the point you will be able to generate them without the Aneros present at all.

As you can see from the above illustration, the curved shape of the Aneros actually curves opposite the direction of the rectum, thus, if your MGX is free to spin in the anus, there would be a natural tendency for it to rotate 180 degrees and follow the curve of the rectum. Generally the P-tab arm, when in contact with the perineum, would prevent this type of rotation. 'Love_is' and 'slimjm' are both correct in their advice, from the situation you are describing, it is possible you may have some physical abnormalities which should be verified by a proctologist. Your Aneros when inserted correctly and used properly should never cause you discomfort or pain.

Hi Twinkle,
Agree that a visit to a procto or Uro doc would be the most helpful and best thing to do. Is there any chance that the 'soft tissue' might be your bladder?

Once you get a read from the doc, you might consider a Peridise rather than an Aneros.

Generally the P-tab arm, when in contact with the perineum, would prevent this type of rotation

Thanks for the advice, I may get checked out, your commnet is true Rumel, but can I at least verify that when the P-tab is NOT in contact with the perineum during the relaxing of the sphincter when it slightly pops out then is it normal for it to start turning to a different position where it seems to settle everytime ? Does that happen to you guys too ? I keep having to rotate it back into place and contract my mucles so it gets sucked back in and locked into position where it is unable to shift away due to the tail that sits in the but crack and p-tab but soon as I let go of the contraction and push out it runs away again.

I had a really good inspection inside to figure out the shape of my rectum and the image below was edited to depict the difference in my curvature. It seems I am only able to insert half of my index finger in the direction of the prostate before I hit the bowel wall and find that it starts to curve away, the yellow area in the diagram shows the spongy tissue mass that seems to sit between my rectal wall and the prostate, when I push against it I can feel a lot of space between the two areas. I can feel a slight sensation of the prostate that sits behind all that spongy tissue mass. The red arrows in the diagram actually shows a very tight constricted point in my bowel where the tip of the aneros always seems to end up, the tip of my index finger reaches that spot aswell and I find it unusually narrows at that point, when i touch it I feel the same odd discomfort that the aneros causes when it is fully inserted, obviously its hitting that tight spot, kinda feels like a pinching sensation everytime the aneros, touches it. sometimes even painful. The diagram below is as accurately as I could display my bowel curvature after I spent a good time maping it out with my index finger. Now that I have been able to provide more information I would like to hear some more some feed back in regards to this problem.
click on pic to enlarge

Very good pictorial representation and description, Twinkle. You should not feel what you're describing, that is the constricted narrow area at the tip of your index finger with it inserted. The human rectum should be a nice wide open cavity there; in fact, medically, we call that area the "rectal vault" because of the rather large diameter of the rectum at that level, which is how you can form those really "big ones" in there when you're constipated. Knowing your age range would help me because even though you have to get this checked out, it can help narrow the possibilities down somewhat.

If you're young and healthy, the chances of cancer should be very small. In fact, cancer in that general anatomic region is usually confined to either rectal cancer itself, a form of colon cancer in which a hard mass grows in the wall of the rectum and obviously has to be treated. But when you feel these with your finger, they're hard and have a rough uneven surface and usually at the point they're that large, they will bleed onto your stool or your finger inserted there and they will characteristically pinch the stool flat as you pass it, i.e., the "ribbon stools" described pathologically. You on the other hand have described something spongy and soft and the only thing I can think of that can be commonly seen there and that has that characteristic upon doing a digital rectal exam, is a large, spongy prostate and I've seen these even in young guys.

As a physician I've palpated many guys' prostates, and older men can have benign prostatic hypertrophy or BPH that gets really firm and large there and prostate cancer when advanced will feel rough and uneven and very hard, but in these cases you're feeling through the rectal wall to appreciate the characteristics of the prostate gland itself. I have only heard of one case of a mass anterior to the rectum and it was benign and on a really older lady. I've never myself heard of a cancerous mass between the rectum and prostate on a guy. If I had to bet money, especially if you're a younger guy, I'd say you have a large spongy prostate gland and I've felt these on young guys where you could hardly get your finger past the gland into the rectal vault and it would be tender there. Do see your urologist and I would in fact suggest him first, and then if you're close to 50 or over, or younger if you have colorectal problems in your family history, see a gastroenterologist and get a colonoscopy as you'd be due for that anyways.

Normally, when you insert your finger into your rectum and feel anteriorly, that is towards the front, you should slip your finger over your sphincters and upon reaching that first open space in your rectum (like where your stool would sit awaiting a trip to the toilet) and then palpating towards the front you should be able to sweep your finger around and get a good feel of a smooth, rounded, firm structure in front of the relatively thin rectal wall there which is your prostate. It should be about chestnut or so size and have a definite, rounded character that you can clearly feel pressing somewhat firmly with your finger tip. The fact you've not described that clear delineation of the gland on yourself makes me wonder if you have a spongy, enlarged gland characteristic of prostatitis, probably chronic. This of course can be easily treated but let a urologist work with you in doing that.

It sounds a little goofy, but if you'll do a rectal exam on yourself with a really good sized fart trying to come down, and stick your finger in there and gently push with your bowels like you're trying to pass your fart but not enough to let it out, this will inflate your rectal vault where your finger is, kind of like they insufflate your colon during a colonscopy, and you can sweep your finger around on the surfaces of your lower rectum. The rectal walls should feel basically smooth with no constrictions or masses filling that what otherwise should be an empty cavity (like the Aneros picture).

If you make any other self exam findings and want to ask me, feel free to PM me and I'll try to help. Finally, I would say, don't get anxious as you're awaiting getting this checked out. You haven't told me anything that makes me really think you've got cancer and my discussion about all this is to help you get a general idea of what can go on in that area.

Hope all this helps, and best wishes for getting this resolved. Slimjm.

if you always keep at least a small amount of tension on you sphincter your aneros should stay in place and p-tab should keep in contact with perenium lying on your side is defo easier for keeping the device in place

Shit. How common is this? I was scared that I might have this, which would explain my slow Aneros progress. But I did a gloved finger check, and I could have sworn that I did feel a walnut-shape in there.

Thanks so much for all the help. Slimjm, I appreciate the thorough response. I am 29 years old. Perhaps you are right I may have some other underlying condition, I will have to try another rectal exam on myself using the technique you suggested, I will post back when I do that. I haven't had any blood or tary stools, thankfully. The problem I do have is that my stool sometimes comes out in small pellets even though I am not constipated and I apoligise if this sounds gross but I always have probelms with stool remaining in my rectum or being stuck, I think in that constricted point, again its not that I am constipated because the stool is soft but I always seem to have left overs. My rectal wall does feel smooth with only that one constricted point indicated in the diagram but I dont seem to have much of an empty cavity, in fact when I have examined myself I feel a lot of folded rectal lining that I have to push aside as I try to wriggle my finger up past all that to find which direction its going. I am fairly slim, about 75 kg's, and 1.40cm height. Thanks again for your help.

PS> I guess if you are right about me having a large spongy prostate and all that yellow area is actually my prostate then I would need a much shorter, stubby device to stimulate it?

Twinke, don't be offended by this question, but have you had some type of anal trauma that caused this? Rough sex, dildo, etc???

Is it hard to have a bowel movement, then?

No, actually I am new to this whole thing of using my anal as a pleasure spot. I have only just discovered it.

Twinkle,

I am wondering if you may have a congenitally foreshortened rectum and the constriction you are feeling is the rectosigmoid sphincter between the rectum and colon. If this is the case, a colonoscopy would quickly verify that. I think you should follow 'slimjm's advice and have this looked at by your urologist.

The additional information is helpful, Twinkle. At 29 it would be very unlikely you are dealing with any malignancy typical for that general region, again, these being prostate or colorectal cancer and none of what you've felt and described to me sounds suspicious for that. Some people empty their rectums more with defecation than others. In general a firm, "formed" stool will pass out of the anus cleanly and completely leaving the lower rectal vault empty but softer, looser stools will pass to the extent the peristaltic contractions of the colon and rectum push them, leaving some soilage on the anus as well as a small column of soft feces in the lower rectum that over the ensuing hours will "dry" into small lumps that you'll usually see compacted together at the "head" of the next stool you pass. If you stick your finger in there with leftovers like this still inside, you'll feel either soft feces early on or the dried lumps later, which for instance some guys like to clear with a small enema before an Aneros session. So, having left over stool in your rectum following defecating, is not necessarily abnormal.

As to the folds in the rectum, there are three to sometimes four folds normally seen in the rectum (Houston's valves) and these are best felt palpating yourself with your rectum filled with flatus you haven't yet expelled, like I was describing earlier you could do, and these folds are also well seen on colonoscopy looking into the rectum with it distended with insufflated air. So, feeling some folded tissue on the side of your rectum that you can push away with your finger is not necessarily abnormal either. It could be that the constricted point you feel is the lowest of these folds as the higher folds are too far away to feel at an inserted finger's length.

As to feeling your prostate, granted this is a little hard to do if you're not familiar with what you're feeling for, and even with as many prostate exams as I've done, it's hard to really feel mine well myself. But, as I think I described earlier, after you have a firm bowel movement that passes cleanly, or after you've given yourself a small warm water enema, squat and slide your lubricated finger in from the front and after your fingertip slips over your sphincters and enters your rectum (about an inch in) feel anteriorly, that is toward your front, pushing somewhat firmly against the rectal wall there and see if you can't appreciate about a chestnut size rounded structure in front of your lower rectum. You often will feel a funny, pleasant sensation as you palpate there, which is the nerves over the front of the prostate being stimulated by your finger tip. A large spongy prostate, such as from prostatitis, will feel large and mushy and indistinct and if the gland is inflamed, such as from acute prostatitis, it will feel tender to push against the gland with your finger tip. Benign prostatic hypertrophy such as older men can have will make the gland feel firm and large, but distinct, and cancer will make the gland feel hard and uneven in its more advanced state, again, these being things at your age you should not have.

I'd really be surprised if you had prostatitis with no otherwise generally observable symptoms so I doubt your gland is truly spongy and large (i.e., you may be only feeling normal rectal folds there and/or some soft retained stool), but again, a good urologist's check up would clarify this for you. For those who truly have enlarged glands, starting with one of the small massagers is probably the best way to go, but the only enlarged glands that should be massaged are those with benign hypertrophy or that are non-infected. In general it's advised to not be massaging an infected or a potentially cancerous gland. Hope this helps you.

Thanks guys I realy apreciate the help. I have now booked in with an appointment with the Gastroenterologist that performed my colonoscopy several years ago, I am a bit confused though would a Urologist have been more apropriate then a Gastroenterologist ?

Upon a second exam I gave myself an enema and followed the method suggested by slimjm by inflating my bowels by pushing down and once again I observed a significant amount of Houston's valves, in fact my finger kept going into the wrong folds and hitting walls and I had to keep guiding myself out and eventually at the end of the folds I came out to that constricted point in my rectum again, there are no folds there it just a tight spot where my rectum extends into. I dont want to jump to conclusions without being diagnosed first but after searching online I found a case that best describes what I am feeling, its called Rectal Intussusception (Internal Rectal Prolapse) if you have a look at the picture in the link it shows the exact same excessive folds and the constricted tight spot that I have been describing, even the problem with trapped feaces...

ODS: Internal Rectal Intussusception

I think during my colonoscopy years ago they may have missed this abnormality because they inflated my bowels with air during the procedure which makes the bowels take normal shape or maybe it even worsened in the more recent years but slimjm you beinga physician could you tell me what are the chances of me having Rectal Intussusception from what I have described?

...continued

I also wanted to add, yesterday I had a fulfilling session with the MGX but I used it diffrently, this time I only inserted half of the MGx on an angle directly towards my prostate and used the tip of it to manually masage the colon rectall wall in the direction of the prostate. It felt great but like I said I only had to push it half way in and constantly keep a firm pressure against the rectall wall on an angle to feel the tip along the rectall wall but soon as I insert the whole thing and I no longer get any sensation along the prostate.

Slimjm you said "(about an inch in) feel anteriorly" if it is infact located so closely to the entracnce of the anus then why are thes Aneros so much longer in length ?. like in my case after discovering I only needed to insert it halfway in to massage the prostate it seems I am in need of a massager that is much more shorter and curved in the shape of a "C" to get to the spot that I need to.

Hey, Twinkle. What did you have the original colonoscopy for? You're quite young to have already gone through a colonoscopy and in general if nothing's found abnormal on one, you don't have to have it repeated for another 5 or more years, and that's generally for surveilance for polyps in guys fairly older than you. It should be very unlikely you have something seriously wrong now if nothing was found there on the prior examination. Also, insufflating the colon and rectum is the proper way to perform those examinations and allowing the rectum and colon to collapse by sucking the insufflated are out is not a technique I'm aware of that's used to see abnormalities not otherwise noticeable with the colon distended.

Since you keep noticing what feels to you like a constricted area, there's nothing wrong with getting re-scoped. As to the intussusception, there's no way I can imagine you have that. I've seen those, generally in much older individuals and pretty rare, and what you're describing isn't anything like that in my experience. As to seeing a urologist, again, I'd bet you're healthy there, but let him feel your prostate and that will give you peace of mind about it's size and health.

Another comment. As to the position of the prostate in relation to the rectum and the length of the massagers, it's about a couple inches or so from the outside of the anus to where the level of the prostate is. The anal canal measuring from the edge of the anus you see on the outside of your body to where the anus "opens up" so to speak into the lower rectal cavity is about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inches long or deep. The prostate would be about a chestnut sized or so structure just above where the anal canal opens into the lower rectum and it's lying anterior to the rectum there, so, (and for fun I've measured this on myself) when the Aneros massager is inserted (I don't have all the models but it's true for my Eupho and Progasm) the prostate is cradled approximately in that little curved "notch" between the tip of the massager and that second hump midways down on the massager. When you have an involuntary contraction, your rectum tightly squeezes that area of the massager against your prostate with an inward type push giving you those pleasant feelings. This means, for instance on the Eupho, that it's tip is probably riding at the level of the seminal vesicles during an involuntary contraction. The Helix is a somewhat shorter model and it's position (so it feels to me) is exactly like what you see in the Aneros anatomy picture.

Hey, Twinkle. What did you have the original colonoscopy for?.

I have a medical condition known as Autonomic Dysfunction and as a result my gastrointestinal system is ditrupted and causing all sorts of spasms, fluctuations between slowed and rapid gut motility, hietus hernia due to acid reflux, abdominal pains and at one point I was ending up in the ER everyday with excrutiating abdominal pains which was also coinciding with changes in my bowel movement where I was only getting very small sized cluster of stool resembling olives. It was suspected that the spasms in my bowels as a result of Dysautonomia was the culprit and also some samples were taken from any polyps that were found just in case.

Sorry to know you deal with autonomic dysfunction. Often that will occur in diabetics and so I hope you're not having to deal with that as well. The spasms and fluctuations with gut motility and hard clumpy stools you describe sound a lot like IBS to me. Your gastroenterologist I'm sure has the best ideas as to what's bothering you though. If the colonoscopy he did was recent, I doubt he'd necessarily want to do another right now (they're not fun, are they?) and some of what you've been feeling inside your rectum may be related to his original diagnosis.

I guess with all you've told me at this point, I'd start first with letting a urologist feel your prostate inside and give you reassurance about that. You're really too young for something like cancer there, so don't be worrying about it. He'll let you know what the size and shape of the gland is, though as before, if you're having no urologic symptoms, I'll bet it's okay; but it will be well worth the reassurance. Then try one or two other Aneros models and see which feels as though it "fits" you best and work with that. Best wishes with everything.