It is low-risk for serious harm but genuinely high-risk for infection, and that distinction matters. Because it involves oral contact with the anus, it can transmit gut infections such as hepatitis A, giardia, shigella and E. coli, as well as STIs including herpes, HPV, gonorrhoea and syphilis. A barrier — a dental dam, or a condom cut open into a sheet — removes most of that risk, and vaccination against hepatitis A and B is worth asking your doctor about.

Can you get an STI from rimming?

Yes. Rimming can transmit herpes, HPV, syphilis and gonorrhoea, and it is a recognised route for hepatitis A in particular. The risk of HIV specifically is considered very low by comparison, but not zero if there are cuts or sores in the mouth. Using a barrier and keeping up with routine sexual-health screening are the practical answers.

How do you prepare for rimming?

A normal shower is genuinely enough for most people — soap, warm water, and a proper rinse. Some prefer to go further with a gentle external wash beforehand. Avoid shaving immediately before, since fresh nicks are an easy route for bacteria. Internal douching is not necessary, and doing it often can irritate the lining and make things worse rather than better.

What is a dental dam and do I need one?

A dental dam is a thin square of latex or polyurethane placed over the area, so contact happens through the barrier rather than directly. It is the single most effective way to make rimming safer. If you do not have one, an unrolled condom cut open lengthways into a sheet does the same job. Use it once, one side only, and do not flip it over.

Why does rimming feel so good?

The anus and the skin around it are among the most densely innervated areas of the body, and a tongue is soft, warm and precise in a way fingers and toys are not. For people with a prostate, external pressure in the area adds another layer. On top of the physical, there is the psychological charge of an act that feels taboo and requires real trust — which for many people is most of the appeal.

Is it normal to enjoy rimming — or to not want to?

Both are entirely normal. Rimming is common across all genders and orientations, and enjoying it — giving or receiving — says nothing about your identity. Equally, plenty of people find the idea unappealing and never try it, which is just as unremarkable. It is one option among many, not a milestone.

Rimming (Analingus): What It Is, Why It Feels Good & How to Do It Safely

Rimming sits in an odd spot: extremely common, rarely discussed plainly, and surrounded by more squeamishness than almost any other practice. Most of the hesitation comes down to hygiene worries — which are reasonable, and also entirely manageable once you know what the actual risks are and what handles them.

This guide covers what rimming involves, why the sensation is so distinct, and the honest picture on safety — including the parts that other guides tend to skip.

What is rimming?

Rimming — clinically analingus, colloquially a rim job — is oral stimulation of the anus using the lips and tongue. It is one of the more popular sexual practices and a close relative of broader anal play.

It ranges widely in intensity: light kissing and broad flat licking around the outside, focused pressure with the tip of the tongue, or shallow penetration. None of it requires the others, and plenty of people never go beyond external contact.

Why it feels the way it does

The anus is ringed by one of the densest concentrations of nerve endings in the body, and almost none of them are reached by ordinary sex. A tongue is uniquely suited to them: soft, warm, wet and far more precise than a finger, with none of the pressure a toy applies.

For people with a prostate, external stimulation in the area presses indirectly against it, adding a deeper note underneath the surface sensation.
For people without one, the shared nerve pathways with the vulva mean the sensation often registers as connected to, rather than separate from, everything else.
For everyone, there is a psychological layer that tends to dominate: rimming feels transgressive, exposed and unusually intimate, and it asks for a level of trust that ordinary acts do not. For a great many people that vulnerability is the appeal — the same thread that runs through sensation play.

The honest safety picture

This is the part worth reading properly. Rimming is very unlikely to injure anyone — but it is one of the more efficient ways to pass on an infection, because it puts the mouth in direct contact with the gut.

What can actually be transmitted. Two separate categories. Gut and faecal-oral infections: hepatitis A, giardia, shigella, salmonella and E. coli. And sexually transmitted infections: herpes, HPV, syphilis and gonorrhoea can all pass this way. HIV risk specifically is regarded as very low here, though not zero where there are cuts or sores in the mouth.

Use a barrier. A dental dam — a thin latex or polyurethane square laid over the area — is the most effective single measure, and it removes nearly all of the transmission risk. A condom cut open lengthways into a flat sheet works identically if you do not have one to hand. Use each barrier once, keep the same side facing outward, and never flip it.

Get vaccinated. Hepatitis A is the infection most associated with rimming, and there is a straightforward vaccine for it. Hepatitis B is likewise vaccine-preventable. This is a genuinely worthwhile conversation to have with a doctor or sexual-health clinic — the NHS guidance on STIs and Planned Parenthood's safer-sex resources both cover the basics well.

Wash, but do not overdo it. A normal shower with soap and a thorough rinse is enough. Internal douching is not required, and frequent douching irritates the lining and strips the natural bacteria that protect it — making infection more likely, not less.

Don't shave right before. Fresh nicks and razor burn are open doors for bacteria. If you groom, leave a day or two.

Mind the order of things. Do not move from anal contact to vaginal contact — mouth, fingers or anything else — without washing or changing barriers in between. This one transfer is a common and avoidable cause of infection.

Skip it when you are ill. An active cold sore means no rimming, in either direction — herpes transmits readily this way. Likewise if either partner has a stomach bug.

Getting started

Say something first. A quick, low-pressure word beforehand removes almost all of the awkwardness — and the receiving partner is often far more self-conscious about it than the giving partner is.

Start broad and outside. Flat, unhurried licking around the whole area is where most of the good sensation lives anyway. There is no need to progress anywhere in particular.

Position matters more than technique. Lying face-down with hips slightly raised, or on the back with knees drawn up, gives comfortable access without anyone straining. Comfort makes the difference between three minutes and twenty.

Reassurance is the real skill. The single most common blocker is the receiving partner's self-consciousness. Enthusiasm, said out loud, dissolves it faster than anything technical.

Pair it with something else. Rimming combines naturally with hands elsewhere — it is often more effective as one element of a scene than as a standalone act.

Common, and simpler than it looks

Once the hygiene questions have straightforward answers, most of the hesitation around rimming falls away. It stops being a daunting proposition and becomes what it actually is: a distinctly intense sensation, reliant on trust, available to anyone curious enough to talk about it first.

Related: Rimming connects to anal play, pegging, and fisting.

Curious how this fits alongside the rest of what you are drawn to? Take the 2-minute Kink Quiz →