Amazing Butthole Facts

All About that Butt. Want to learn more about the booty? Of course you do! Rectums are fascinating creatures. We have all your questions about the rectum answered right here:

What does the rectum do? The rectum is the last stop for poop! The butt of many jokes, the rectum plays a serious role when it comes to pooping. This fecal loading dock is lined with nerve endings that, when filled with poop, tell the brain to find a bathroom pronto.

Who knows the difference between poop 💩 and a fart 💨? Your rectum, that's who! Let's take a moment to shine some light on this under appreciated organ, who -- along with your brain -- makes important important decisions about what leaves your body every day.

Your butt and brain talk to each other. A LOT. When feces move into your rectum, nerve receptors inside the rectum tell the brain if it's gas or poop. If it's gas, your brain gives the OK to let it out. If it's poop, brain gets your legs moving toward the nearest toilet.

How can I keep regular? I love the word “regular” when we are actually talking about pooping normally. Too much poop is diarrhea and not enough poop is constipation. Keep regular with fiber, water and plenty of fruits and veggies to scrub out your colon and send it all in a smooth, pliable mass so your rectum doesn't have to strain squeezing it out for you.

What’s a rectal foreign body? This is the technical term for stuff shoved up your anus. Usually  you end up at the emergency room when you can’t fish it out of your butt yourself, and the doctor must use forceps, polypectomy sling, suction, anal dilation or foley catheter to remove the item from your rectum.  A sampling of rectal foreign bodies from Wikipedia: shampoo bottle, chicken bone, apple, oven mitt, light bulb (!), drainpipe, pencil and a water-filled balloon.

Have you met my good friend Proctalgia Frugax? Maybe you know them as a sharp stabbing pain in your butthole! You know what I’m talking about. Other fun rectal disorders you might like to meet include hemorrhoids, fistulas, pruritus ani annnnd, best for last, anal fissures!

Some animals have square poop. Humans make all sizes, shapes and textures of poops (as seen in our funny Bristol chart) but did you know wombats make cube-shaped poops? It's because their rectums are square rather than round. Amazing, huh?