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Concept
Anal hygiene
Summary
Anal hygiene or anal cleansing refers to hygienic practices that are performed on a person's anus, usually shortly after defecation. Post-defecation cleansing is rarely discussed academically, partly due to the social taboo. The scientific objective of post-defecation cleansing is to prevent exposure to pathogens while socially it becomes a cultural norm. The process of post-defecation cleansing involves either rinsing the anus and inner part of the buttocks with water or wiping the area with dry materials such as toilet paper. In water-based cleansing, either a hand is used for rubbing the area while rinsing it with the aid of running water or (in bidet systems) pressurized water is used. In either method subsequent hand sanitization is essential to achieve the ultimate objectives of post-defecation cleansing.
Ancient Greeks were known to use fragments of ceramic known as pessoi to perform anal cleansing.
Roman anal cleansing was done with a sponge on a stick called a tersorium (xylospongium). The stick would be soaked in a water channel in front of a toilet, and then stuck through the hole built into the front of the toilet for anal cleaning. The tersorium was shared by people using public latrines. To clean the sponge, they washed it in a bucket with water and salt or vinegar. This became a breeding ground for bacteria, causing the spread of disease in the latrine.
In ancient Japan, a wooden skewer known as chuugi ("shit sticks") was used for cleaning after defecation.
The use of toilet paper for post-defecation cleansing first started in China in the 2nd century BC. According to Charlier (2012) French novelist (and physician) François Rabelais had argued about the ineffectiveness of toilet paper in the 16th century. The first commercially available toilet paper was invented by Joseph Gayetty, a New York entrepreneur, in 1857 with the dawning of the second industrial revolution.
In predominantly Catholic countries, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim cultures, and in some Protestant countries such as Finland, as well as in Southeast Asia and Southern Europe and Latin America, water is usually used for anal cleansing, using a jet (e.
Official source
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