NOTE: This article describes sexual activity in relatively explicit detail, explicitly mentioning the use butt plugs and other sex toys. While not explicitly NSFW, I highly advise against reading this article at work. Having said that, it’s a really great read so be sure to check it out, if not now, then later when you get home. And for those of you that desire further reading, Blissful Cherry has great guides not only on butt plugs, but on all sorts of other sex toys as well. Definitely worth checking their website out.

I first had anal sex in my freshman year of college, when I was with my then boyfriend who for whatever reason was just super into anal sex and really wanted me to try it with him. Although I wasn’t pressured at all into partaking in anal sex, I was not particularly looking forward to it, being more open to the idea simply because I trusted him and wanted to please him as well. But boy after that first time was I instantly craving more. It wasn’t actually that pleasurable at the very beginning, if I am being completely honest. However, once he finally had his entire penis lodged up my ass, I felt this amazing sense of euphoria and outright pleasure.

The best way to describe it is how just about everyone describes anal sex – it felt like my body was “full”. For whatever reason, filling up someone’s butthole with something thick (and luckily in my case) long feels like your entire body is being filled up to the brim, even without anything in your vagina at the same time. Even without my then-boyfriend thrusting in and out, I felt huge amounts of pleasure just letting his penis sit inside of my ass.

However, things did not last with this guy, and we ended up breaking up just a few months later. But by that point, I was obsessed with anal sex and wanted to get more and more of it. While I was actively on the hunt for guys that could fulfill this need, I quickly realized that I was not comfortable with just any guy penetrating my butthole. I realized that I would only let someone penetrate me anally (not to mention vaginally) if I was in a committed relationship with them or really trusted them enough to hook up with them. So I was in a dilemma, wanting someone to “fill” me up once more, but without anyone I was actually willing to do it with.

And then I realized the answer to my problem – the use of sex toys. I actually first thought about this while hanging out with someone friends in my dorm who for whatever reason started talking about sex toys. And while they were talking mostly about dildos and vibrators and stuff like that, I realized that I could feasibly stick a dildo up my ass and get the same effect as a real guy’s penis. And so that night, I quickly looked up dildos and stumbled upon something even better: butt plugs.

You see, butt plugs are wider than dildos, and have a unique (typically coned) shape that facilitates immense pleasure when being inserted up your butthole. The first time I tried it and I knew I was back in heaven again. However it is important to note that there were some sensations that were missing compared to when I was having real anal sex. For one, having a real penis inside of you will generate some heat that is simply not present when using a butt plug. And also, the feeling of having someone literally mounted behind you and giving you the pleasure directly was missing while using my butt plug. Having said that though, the pleasure was still amazing and probably even better than having a real penis inside of me. And there are clear benefits to using butt plugs rather than a real guy.

For one, I could get some action whenever I wanted – all I had to do was open up my drawer where I kept my butt plug hidden, lube it up, and then insert it inside of me for amazing pleasure. Having real anal sex is never that convenient, starting with the fact that you may not even have someone available to have anal sex with to begin with. Then you also have to consider the fact that having anal sex requires both people to be available, versus when using a butt plug where only you yourself need to be available. Having anal sex can also lead to a host of problems such as STI’s that are simply not an issue when using butt plugs.

And perhaps the best thing about butt plugs is that I have the freedom to choose a butt plug that gives me the most pleasure. Unless you have more than one sexual partner (which I don’t recommend), you only have one shape that gets inserted into your butthole every time. However, with butt plugs, if I get bored of a certain size and shape, I can easily just purchase a new one that will give me the pleasure that I want. If I had to choose between only having real anal sex versus only using butt plugs for the rest of my life, I would hands down choose the butt plugs every time.

Another possible way that you can use butt plugs is to incorporate them into your sex life. While I’ve personally haven’t tried that in my own sex life, Blissful Cherry’s butt plug guide does bring up some great tips on how to have sexual intercourse vaginally while simultaneously having a butt plug up your ass. This apparently simulates a double penetration and in all honestly looks absolutely amazing. I definitely need to try that sooner rather than later.

All in all, even though I have a loving husband and our sex life is nothing to sneeze at on its own, I am so lucky and happy to have found out about butt plugs as early as I did. They provide me with an amazing pleasure sensation that is so different from vaginal penetration, and is available for me whenever I have the urge, at a moment’s notice if need be. Even if you’ve never had anal sex before, I highly recommend looking into how butt plugs can change your sex life in the same way that they have changed mine.