How common was it to use the douche nozzle for enemas?

In the old days, when more people regularly took bag enemas at home, how common was it to use the douche nozzle supplied with combo bag syringes for enemas?

To me, I would imagine it was uncommon, because this was also a time when douching was more common and one wouldn't want to get the douche nozzle dirty if someone in the house regularly used it.

But I wasn't there, I don't know. To me, it's the better nozzle (if only because it's easier to keep it in, but I feel like, subjectively, it's also more stimulating). But at the time, did people do this?

That was always the nozzle that was on the bag that hung on the back of the bathroom door.

I bought my first enema bag when I was in high school for constipation. I never intended to douche and gave the douche nozzle a try one day, and found it was much easier to keep in, and felt pretty good.

In our house, the red bag was hung on the back of the bathroom door and always had the enema tip installed on it.

Mama used the rectal tip for my enemas when I was small. But, as I got older she switched to the long black douche nozzle. I once asked her why and she said the smaller one kept slipping out.. Mom had her own douche nozzle!

I found the grey “ bakelight ” douche nozzle hiding in the back of a bathroom drawer after finding that I had an enema kink, and tried / snuck one when my parents were away. Back then… then nozzle colors came in either black or grey. BTW…. I loved the feeling of this new found nozzle, as it's one of my favorites.

Mom always used the douche nozzle on me back in the 50's and talking with my friends back then their moms used it on them also I believe she had a separate nozzle for douching or maybe a bulb apparatus.

@Cleanout_lover

You mention the “grey Bakelite” douche nozzle There wasn't any such thing. In fact, most all vintage enema and douche nozzles were made of black hard rubber The only ones that were possibly Bakelite AFAIK were the ones in the very o;d syringes, ca 1880.

The ‘grey’ nozzles were exclusive to Faultless and related brands, like Ashland.ere or she didn't douche herself.

My guess is, if the douche nozzle was used for enemas, the mom either had her own bag put away somewhere or never douched. Many times, in looking at vintage used syringes on eBay, either the enema or the douche nozzle is missing, implying some specificity in the use of the item.

I can't comment on how common it is in general but certainly growing up the douche nozzle was commonly used. Its nice and easy to keep seated in place.

There was never a mix up with the douche nozzle used vaginally as they were not kept together.

The douche nozzle for enemas was a lot more common than you would think. My Aunt Jane used the douche nozzle for enemas because one day back in 1969 when i visited her i used her bathroom and her bag was hanging and it was we. It had the douche nozzle and had poopie on it. I got soaking wet when i saw it and i was 16 at the time. She was only 22 and i was so so so tempted to say i had a tummy ache and couldn't do a BM hoping she would give me an enema but i didn't and regret it. lol

Someone on another thread mentioned what I also observed in our household back in the early 1950's - there was only one enema bag with nozzles and it served all purposes - enemas and douching. There wasn't the concern for cross infection back then.

If there was a women in the house who did douche, then I just don't think it was common to use the douche nozzle for enemas. The fear of cross contamination would be too high and it is just not sanitary. In my house we always had a cigar box of enema nozzles , black, different sizes and a colon tube for adult use only. A separate bag for douche. Playing it safe

@saraswitches Did your mother use the douche nozzle in your behind? How did it feel?

Someone on another thread mentioned what I also observed in our household back in the early 1950's - there was only one enema bag with nozzles and it served all purposes - enemas and douching. There wasn't the concern for cross infection back then.

I've mentioned before how we had two bags in the house when growing up: a combination one for enemas and an open top for mom's douching. I have no idea what went thru my mother's mind, it was just the way things were. Also enemas were only given with the rectal pipe.

@westy Safer this way. Depending on how you give an enema, some water may flow back into the pipe. If giving an enema, it can carry feces.

@saraswitches Did your mother use the douche nozzle in your behind? How did it feel?

Yes she did. Whilst her soapy enemas could be crampy and uncomfortable at times the nozzle was never an issue for me.

@Cleanout_lover

You mention the “grey Bakelite” douche nozzle There wasn't any such thing. In fact, most all vintage enema and douche nozzles were made of black hard rubber The only ones that were possibly Bakelite AFAIK were the ones in the very o;d syringes, ca 1880.

Bakelite was announced in 1909.

Jon

@jmelson

And hard rubber was invented ca 1840.

QED

I did many times as a kid but if it happen to get messy, it was a bitch to clean. And I may have been just a kid but I knew it had to be completely cleaned!

@saraswitches What shape was it? The douche nozzles I'm familiar with have some kind of cross shape at the tip and small holes on the sides of the cross.

In those days, most women DID douche!

There were many more styles of nozzles available in drug stores than there are today.

The “Bat” douche nozzle may or may not have been used for enemas in some cases.

It is typically not very suitable for enemas, because it's small holes can so easily become clogged with poop so deep that it takes a rather large sewing needle to get them open. Truly clean is even harder!

Don't forget, it was designed to carry a relatively thin solution such as Massengill or iodine, not something thicker like soap, glycerin, or similar.

Also, most women seemed to prefer douching either sitting on the toilet, or crouching in the shower

That reclining in the bathtub position shown shown in the “women's health” books of the era was not really used by most women.

In a sitting or squatting position the vagina has a curve to it that is much more like that of most of the curved nozzles than straight like is would be in the reclining position. Given that, from about 1968 on most bags came with the straight nozzle included, some may have been re-purposed for enemas, especially in households where the curved nozzle was preferred. Probably with barely satisfactory results!

My understanding as a young girl growing up was the short straight nozzle was for enemas, the longer, larger nozzle was for douche. That continued until one day as a young woman with a good job being sent out of town for some training I decided for the trip I would buy myself a new enema bag. I bought a Faultless Folding Syringe, the kind with the yellow latex bag, because it was small and easy to pack. That evening in the hotel room I was surprised to find only the douche nozzle. Oh, well. I gave myself a nice enema and was surprised that I didn’t have to hold the nozzle in while I did “other things“. And it became my favorite until years later when I bought some larger custom enema nozzles from a mail order company.

It is typically not very suitable for enemas, because it's small holes can so easily become clogged with poop so deep that it takes a rather large sewing needle to get them open. Truly clean is even harder!

Don't forget, it was designed to carry a relatively thin solution such as Massengill or iodine, not something thicker like soap, glycerin, or similar.

Full disclosure, I don't douche, so I have only used the “bat” for enemas and… I dunno, I just haven't had the clogging problem. Mine is a modern one from Mabis rubber works, but it looks similar to some of the later “classic” douche nozzles. It has eight small holes but they seem easy enough to unclog, and running a bag of piping hot water through it after a session seems to do an excellent job cleaning it.

I still use douche nozzles for giving enemas in our household. When I buy a rubber bag kit with the attachments, I'm buying it for only one member of the family so all the attachments will be used for giving enemas only. The douche tip is of a softer plastic. It's thicker than the narrow enema pipe that also comes with the kit, but it's blunt and rounded on the end, so it glides over the delicate tissues inside the rectum much more comfortably. The douche tip is also just the right length for both my 10 - 12 year olds and my husband…….3 - 4 inches is a safe and tolerable insertion depth for most anyone over the age of 8 years old. It's been a good while since I've given an enema to the kids. Last time was three years ago to my son. He was really upset when I first started, but he calmed down when he realized the nozzle doesn't hurt going in.

If the intent is to solely aid retention of the tip, then a Foley catheter with 30 cc balloon works well for most adults. While the cath labeling specs the balloon for 30 cc of water it can be pushed to 60 cc without rupturing the balloon. A 24 French catheter is normally easy to insert when lubricated with KY Jelly or similar water soluble lubricant. The smaller size also limits the flow rate of the solution. The lubricated catheter with its rounded end also is more comfortable for insertion than many of the hard plastic tips sold with kits. A number of supply houses online sell Foley caths, each costing about $3.00 max for the rubber catheters. Silicone rubbers caths and those containing silver (silver is used to suppress bacteria growth when used for bladder drainage) run around $10.00 plus. If you do not have issues with latex rubber then the lower cost caths are more than adequate.

You can use the Bard Flip-Flo BFF5 valve ( https://www.bd.com/en-us/offerings/capabilities/urology-and-kidney-health/urological-drainage/foley-accessories/flip-flo-catheter-valve ) to adapt the catheter to the typical 5/16" diameter tubing used with many fountain syringes. Insert the tapered end of the valve into the large lumen of the catheter and fit the syringe tubing onto the fixed diameter end. A 30 or 60 cc barrel syringe with Luer lock can be used to inflate the balloon. Use room temperature water to inflate the balloon.

Many commercial enema sets are offered with thick walled silicone semi-clear rubber tubing. It is not particularly flexible and its appearance alone is quite intimidating. You may want to consider using Uro-Care White Rubber (not vinyl or pvc) tubing that is sold in 10 foot lengths. Urocare's item number is 600831. It is sold online by a number of different providers. Make sure the item number you find online matches the one given above. It has an inside diameter of 0.28" while other Urocare rubber tubing offerings are 0.25" and 0.13". The 0.28" inside diameter provides a snug fit for most buckets and enema bags where the tubing is attached by the user. The white rubber is much more pliable and much less rigid than the typical food grade semi-clear thick walled silicone tubing shipped with many current enema products.

@Victoria1951

AFAIK, catheter inflation ports only work with non-locking Luer syringes. They have a valve built into them that requires a non-locking syringe tip to operate.

The idea of using a catheter valve is a good one

I think most parents would be too afraid to try to get something that large into a child's rectum.

@LisaK I think most parents would be too afraid to try to get something that large into a child's rectum.

Agree, and as I remember the enema bag came with 3 nozzles; a very small one, then a regular size, and finally the douche. I clearly remember the middle size one being used on me.

My Aunt gave me enemas when my parents went out on the weekend. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone and I didn’t. It started with her fingers the enemas . I enjoyed the attention and the the feelings she gave me . Much more to the story. But she used the Large black nozzle

Whether it was my aunt, my mother, or later in life my mother-in-law, they all used the douche fitting; however, before they inserted it, they first lubricated me, internally as well as externally, with an index finger so they knew the direction the fitting should take so as not to injure me. Once it was in place and the enema started, I found it was a very pleasant sensation