In a word, it provides: PLEASURE!
In thinking about my experiences over my 60+ years of enema memories and the responses of others, that is the one word that comes through. Pleasure.
Some of those memories are more exciting and/or more erotic than others and some of the "toys" that are available to me as an adult are different and more varied (and under my control) than when I was a small child or even a teenager/young adult.
And all aspects of this pleasure are derived from one simple act: having something pass through the anus into the rectum and the stimulation of all those nerves. That anal/erotic stimulation provides pleasure. Or put more bluntly, I like the feeling of something in my ass. That was true as a child when my mom gave me enemas or measured my temperature rectally, when I discovered masturbation and explored my own sexuality, or as an adult where I can purchase products that are both physically and visually stimulating and the type of physical stimulation that they can provide.
Of course, with enemas it is a bit more involved than just having something in my ass. There is the preparation, the insertion, the filling, and the release (expulsion). Now for a rather long presentation of each phase.
PREPARATION
There is always the bag and the basic 5-foot hose. With the exception of coffee, I will always fill the bag to at least 4-quarts (the narrowest part of the bag's neck) and usually to the brim (~ 4.5 quarts or 4-lites). I limit coffee to about 80 ounces (about the maximum my coffee pot will hold in a single full brewing). I can increase the volume by diluting the coffee, but I am usually introducing the coffee so far up in my colon that it hardly seems necessary.
What to fill it with and at what temperature? Cool water (not cold) gives the best sensation in terms of where the water is and where it is flowing and may actually be easier to release. Warm water at about the core body temperature provides more of just a sense of filling and pressure buildup. Moving up in temperature a bit, I can feel the water movement similar to cool water, but the muscles may be a bit more relaxed by the warm water. Plain water? Water with baking soda and salt? Coffee? Or a lube injection because I'm going to use a longer, larger diameter tube?
And what nozzles to get out and insert? The short enema nozzle and the somewhat longer douche nozzle give the ability to have a nice intense fill from the bottom up in addition to the pleasure of stimulating my prostate. There is also a certain pleasurable sensation of water flowing upward from the sigmoid colon through the descending colon and then flowing across my abdomen through the transverse colon. This is most noticeable when sitting or standing. Less so when I'm on the back or on knees and elbows with my ass up in the air. Or do I want the pleasurable feeling of inserting one of the long colon tubes? The long, thin one that came with my enema bag is tough to thread through all the twists and turns of the colon without a water assist requiring a partial fill to get all the way to and past the hepatic flexure on the right side. But once there the filling from "front to back" is pretty incredible. Or, I have an assortment of other colon tubes of larger diameter and similar reach. They reduce the volume held but increase the PLEASURABLE sensation of the large size passing through the various portions of the colon. Note: since the purchase and use of these longer and larger colon tubes, I have a greater awareness of my own internal anatomy.
Next is the lube selection. What to apply and where.
Finally is the where to take this enema? In the bathroom (most typically) or in the bed (Looking at the full bag hanging from the top of one of the four spindle posts is pretty wicked. Get out the appropriate number of towels and damped a couple of wash cloths and arrange them in the correct locations. Bag, tubing and nozzle filled to minimize the air introduced to my colon, I'm ready to go.
INSERTION
With lubrication there is insertion. I sometimes insert my fingers with lubricant into my ractum, but mostly it is the insertion of the tube or nozzle itself that is the first penetration penetration. I like the feeling as the selected tube or nozzle slides in. The small diameter stuff is no real challenge or provides no real opening and stretching. Still, the action of it sliding in is pleasurable. On the shorter, small diameter nozzles, I slide then all the way in and seat them firmly against the anus. The longer, thin colon tube provides a different stimulation of the rectal sphincter muscles as I continue to slide that tube further inside me, always checking that it does not fold over as it tries to navigate the turns.
The larger diameter colon tubes provide a different sensation in three steps. There is the initial insertion as the tube opens the sphincter muscles and slides in. My two tube diameters are 1.0 inches and 1.6 inches. Both are capable of producing that momentary "WOW!" moment as the inner sphincter muscle opens to the passage of the tube. It is more dramatic with the larger diameter tube, but neither is a painful stretch for me. I like sliding it in and out with the tip just sliding out beyond the inner sphincter before re-insertion. I slide these tubes up my p-spot where they also provide a great deal of stimulation. As pleasurable as this is, it is time to move to the next phase and that is moving through the top of the rectum and entering the "turn" into the sigmoid colon. Angling the tube toward the center of my back and pushing gently, there is the same sense and nearly as intense sensation of "opening" similar to pushing the tube into my rectum. The fact that these larger tubes both hold open these muscles and stimulate them both duration the insertion is another source of physical pleasure.
As I mentioned, the small diameter colon tube that came as part of the enema kit generally needs the assistance of a small amount of water to navigate through the passages and I'll open the valve just for a moment or try to allow a slow drip as I insert that tube. I've marked that tube to know how far in it has been inserted. My 1.0 inch tubes, once lubricated, generally have no difficulty navigating through the sigmoid colon and into the descending colon. They are flexible enough to make the turns but are of sufficient diameter not to fold back on themselves. The tubes are also small enough to be able to navigate around or through any fecal material in the colon and continue passage deeper in. Generally speaking, the smaller tubes will not trigger peristalsis, the wave like contractions that normally move material though the colon. Though, on the occasion when it does trigger those contractions, I merely have to back off the insertion pressure a bit and allow the wave to pass and the muscle to relax before smooth insertion begins again. I think it depends upon how much material is in my colon that determines whether the muscle contractions are strongly triggered.
In the case of the larger 1.6 inch diameter tube, it has a more difficult time dealing with fecal material in the colon because it is hard to get by or through the material. If it soft and higher up in the colon, I can push it through. If not, well, I need to step down in size. The tube, itself, is large enough to trigger the peristaltic contractions. Again, backing off the pressure of insertion and allowing the wave to pass produces some great physical effects. I look forward to the release of the contraction and the sudden ease with which I can insert the tube another 4-10 inches before the next contraction wave.
The first big challenge of all these long tubes is the splenic flexure on the left side, just beneath my spleen. At about 28 inches in, the tube has to change direction from my descending colon and enter the transverse colon. It is not a hard turn to make, but I am careful to allow the tube to navigate the turn without undo force or pressure. There are times when the tubes can't seem to make the turn and that will be the point where I stop inserting (particularly on the first fill) and move on to the next phase. But most of the time, all of my tubes can make that turn. And the sensation is like that of opening my rectum...a relaxation of the muscles to allow the tube to pass. The ultimate depth and degree to which the tubes pass through the transverse colon depend upon the length of the tube. If fully inserted, my two "shorter" tubes stop in the transverse colon and the water is injected there. My longer tubes can continue through the length of the transverse colon to make the turn at the hepatic flexure just under my liver on the right side of my abdomen. At approximately 42 inches in, I seem to reach the beginning of that turn. Graphically, it is portrayed as a sharper and more complex turn down to the ascending colon. By the time I reach this point, I already have a very full feeling (moreso with the 1.6 inch tube)
Like the splenic flexure, it is a combination of gentle pressure, a slight twisting, and waiting for the muscles to relax and allow passage. It doesn't always happen. But when it does, the feeling of the tube sliding though the whole length of my colon is simply incredible. The next choice is whether to insert the tube to the point that the retention ball(s) pass through the anal sphincter and into my rectum, whether I wait until I am partially filled to insert the retention balls, or wait until the second or third filling to fully insert the tube and retention balls. I have begun using a retention or keeper ring to hold the ball in and find it incredibly effective.
When I am laying on my back, the neat thing is being able to see the tip of the tube as it slides under the outer layers of my abdomen when it is passing through the sigmoid colon and the transverse colon.
FILLING
Sometimes when I use the longer large tubes, that is enough for me. Besides the feeling of having something in my ass, it is the feeling of fullness that I enjoy. And that can be accomplished with these large tubes, but moreso when the enema fluid flows in
On occasion, I have kept the valve closed to seal the tube and disconnected the hose and drained the bag and called it a day (or night), using the tube as an incredibly filling butt plug. Again, the tube is flexible enough to move with me as I walk around. I can't guarantee how long I can or want to hold it, but I have slept with one of these tubes up my ass overnight. What is neat about that is that I am "ready to fill" in the morning. Prepare the bag with whatever solution, purge the tubing of air, reconnect the tubing (works best with two valves. One on a short section of tubing connected to the colon tube with a screw type valve closure and the other a standard type flow control valve on the hose just before the barb connection), and then open the valves to the desired flow rate. Slower is generally more pleasing and accommodates more volume rather than a rapid filling (which has its own pleasing effect if you want to experience a very rapid and intense series of muscle contractions and expulsion which I sometimes do for a change of pace).
Generally speaking, 2.5 quarts feels very nice. Filled but with no real urgency to push anything out. Usually, it is somewhere beyond three quarts where comfortable or "pleasant" fullness begins to transition into a somewhat more urgent/distressing fullness. I would not describe them as cramps, per se. But I do recognize them as the beginnings of involuntary muscle contractions that I am resisting with my voluntary rectal muscles or the simple fact that my ass is plugged by the combination of retention balls and keeper rings. The total volume taken in during any given fill is limited by a number of factors. I fill my bag with 4 quarts just so it is available whether I can take it or not. It is that maximum sense of fullness that I can hold for a while without overloading the colon that I seek.
Just for the record, the largest volume I have administered to myself in one filling is 5 quarts. It was the last of a series of three fillings (the first two being fill and expel cleanout enemas). I don't know how much water was left in me from the second filling (I had tried to massage out as much as possible). I took my longest 1.0 inch diameter colon tube and inserted the tip of it passed the hepatic flexure. Once past that point, I stood up to insert the rest of the tube and snapped the retention ball into my rectum (it's 2.5 inches in diameter). I had an incredible erection and I started the water flowing while standing facing across one of the sinks in my bathroom. I could see the tubing going from the bad up to my ass cheeks and turning a bit I could see the safety flange tucked neatly between them. I was enjoying being filled from the bottom of my ascending colon, the water flowing towards my rectum and I began to rub that marvelous erection. I was feeling pleasantly full when I realized that the bag was about to drain out. I stopped rubbing myself, closed the valve and quickly filled the one liter bottle I had beside the sink.
I dumped the bottle into bag and reopened the valve and allowed the water to continue to flow in while I masturbated to an incredible orgasm. Because I was standing, the base of the bag was only about 8 inches above the top of my colon. There was no check or backflow valve inserted in the line and the valve was wide open. That meant that when I was "full" and at my natural pressure limit, the water would stop flowing by reaching a pressure balance provided there wasn't too much liquid in the bag. The water stopped flowing at just above the bag exit. Translation: my colon had about an 8 inch water pressure at this level of filling before any real contractions began. I shut off the valve, looked at how full and distended my abdomen looked and the tubing running up to my ass. There was no pain associated with this level of fullness nor any immediate sense of a need to expel the water.
I honestly don't know how long I held the water. I had enough time to retrieve an inflatable butt plug out of my collection and get it prepared for insertion. Eventually, I felt the building pressure and need to let the water go and that is the next phase.
EXPULSION
With the pressure built up inside me, it is now time to let it all go. With the short nozzles, I may have already removed them and just been using the rectal muscles to hold in the water for as long as I can. I'm not as good at holding the water as I was when I was in my teens and early 20's, but (excuse the pun), I can hold my own. I try not to apply voluntary muscle pressure in the expulsion. It is the combination in the sudden release of pressure on the intestine walls and feeling the velocity or speed of the liquid leaving the rectum and lower colon. It can be a strong muscle contraction a little like a cramp but I don't associate that feeling with a cramp because there isn't pain. With the initial fill there is often something else; I can feel the softened fecal matter as it is being pushed out through the colon passages (especially the descending and sigmoid colon). I find the feeling of this deliciously wicked. Yes, it can be messy and smelly but the sensation of being "cleaned out" is what this is eventually all about. In later fills and flushings, fewer lumps and clumps of solid matter pass out and it is dissolved in water. The water doesn't run completely clear after a series of enemas, but the expulsion is the same.
My sense of it is that when I do a large volume enema that somewhere between one-half and two thirds of the water volume will come out without assistance. The remainder can move slowly (unless you get physically active) from the ascending and transverse colon. I'll massage that water towards the descending colon and eventually it will pass out of my body.
Let me say a couple of words about removing these long tubes, particularly the 1.0 and 1.6 inch diameter tubes. There is an incredible feeling as the tube passes back through the colon passages the prolonged rubbing as the tube is extracted through the rectum. Careful not to pull them out too fast, the gradual withdrawal allows for the water pressure to decrease since the walls of the take up volume. So what may be an initial strong urge to push the tube and water out diminishes somewhat to something more controllable in the short and midterm.
When I took in the 5 quarts as described above, the removal of the long tube allowed me to not only perceive a reduction of pressure to hold that volume of water (and very little leaked out when I removed the tube), but it allowed me to insert that inflatable silicone butt plug to hold the volume even longer. That plug is sufficiently long that the tip goes into the lower end of the sigmoid colon and can be inflated enough to essentially seal off the rectum at both ends. It will squeeze the water out of the rectum in both directions as the squeeze bulb inflates it. One day, I'll have to try a double balloon nozzle.
Once I am sufficiently emptied out, it is time to pick up and clean up all the toys, scrub down what needs to be scrubbed down, and put the towels and wash cloths into to the laundry for washing (hot water).
Being sufficiently spent, It is time to sleep. I may awake with a full bladder or the residual water volume that makes it to my rectum, but it is usually quite restful.