A year in lockdown has inspired all sorts of creative outlets for horniness : People are having more phone sex , snapping artful nudes , and investing in vibrators. The most important rule is to go slowly. Rounding out our panel of experts is Em Odesser , sex educator and writer, and Liara Roux , sex worker, organizer, and writer. Keep reading to see what they recommend as their favorites. And remember: Always make sure to wash your toys and your hands. Plugs are also a way to spice up your nudes , as Odesser suggests.

A butt plug is a sex toy that is designed to be inserted into the rectum for sexual pleasure. Rectal dilators were originally designed for therapeutic uses and later marketed with terms such as Dr. Young's Ideal Rectal Dilators , which were marketed as a cure for insanity and constipation. Unlike the vagina , which is closed off by the cervix , the rectum leads to the sigmoid colon. Objects that are inserted into the rectum can therefore potentially travel up into the bowel ; the flared end on a butt plug exists to prevent this. Some dildos lack a flared end, and thus it is ill-advised to use such dildos anally since they may get stuck; rectal foreign bodies may require medical extraction.

A year-old from the United Kingdom named Emily Georgia reportedly ended up having to get surgery after a four-inch butt plug got stuck in her bowels. Back in March, Emily, who didn't publicly reveal her full name, and a male partner were having what she described to The Sun as a "naughty night" when her partner got "too excited" and accidentally pushed a butt plug up her anus. After attempting to get it out herself, Emily went to the hospital.

Here's the lowdown on how to subscribe to Allure's print edition for more beauty routines, recommendations, and features. If you're not familiar with the joy of butt plugs, allow me to introduce you to a versatile toy you can enjoy regardless of gender, orientation, or genitalia. If you have a prostate, butt plugs can stimulate it; if you have a vagina, a butt plug can create incredibly pleasurable pressure on the back vaginal wall. Not to mention that the anus is also surrounded by nerve endings.