When a gentleman in his fifties, Robert*, shuffled into Dr Lawrence Cunningham’s GP surgery, he initially complained of tummy pain.
‘It took nearly an hour of gentle questioning before he admitted the truth,’ Dr Lawrence tells Metro.
‘He had a glass jar stuck up his bottom that he couldn’t get out himself.’
This isn’t an isolated incident, with the NHS forking out roughly £3,172,200 in the past five years to remove foreign objects from people’s rectums.
In 2025 alone, 505 people were admitted to hospital for this reason, 25% of whom were men just like Robert, aged 51 or older.
Even just last year, our health service spent an estimated £429,250 extracting various household items from British bottoms, at £850 a pop, according to the FOI by Erobella.
‘Honestly, as a GP, I’ve had this come up more times than you’d think,’ Dr Lawrence explains. ‘For Robert, at that point, it was straight to A&E.’
Objects get stuck in the bottom because of your internal anal sphincter muscle, which you can’t control. It contracts because it’s job is to hold in your bowel contents. Therefore if you don’t insert something with a flared base, and you push it too far in, your sphincter can contract and pull it inside your rectum.
The GP adds he’s seen or heard of pretty much everything being discovered up someone’s behind. ‘In nearly 40 years of practice, there’s been household items through to purpose-made adult toys,’ he recalls.
‘The ones that come up most seem to be bottles, light bulbs, and various bits from the kitchen drawer. Colleagues in A&E have told me about mobile phones, remote controls, even small tools. The range is quite something.’
In France, there was even a man who turned up at hospital with a World War One bomb in his bottom.
Of course, women encounter this mishap too, with 111 of them attending hospital last year, but the problem disproportionately affects men.
There were 393 guys who got something stuck up their bottom in 2025, and a third of them were over 50, while 26% were aged 31 to 50.
‘The idea of what sex should look like becomes less rigid’
Why are older men the primary culprits, you ask? Sex educator April Maria tells Metro there’s one simple reason: maturing sexually.
‘It’s not about these men being adventurous, but more about them becoming more comfortable with themselves and their bodies over time,’ she explains.
‘As people get older, there’s less pressure to perform or fit into a rigid idea of what sex “should” look like, and more openness to exploring what actually feels good.’
April adds men also give themselves more permission to explore at this age if they’re struggling with erectile dysfunction, which impacts more than a third in their fifties and nearly half of men in their sixties, according to Bupa.
‘They start exploring parts of their body that might bring them more pleasure if they are struggling to get it from their penis,’ April adds.
‘They’re more aware time isn’t endless’
Sex worker and dominatrix, Melissa Todd, agrees, telling Metro she has multiple men in their fifties and beyond asking her for anal play each month.
‘They usually want fingers or strap-ons up there, rather than anything too rogue, but it’s definitely not rare,’ she explains. ‘A lot of these men are very “ordinary” on paper — married, professional, fairly traditional — but turn up after thinking about it for years.
‘They’re curious. Some have heard about prostate stimulation and want to see what the fuss is about, others just say it’s something they’ve always wondered about but never had the chance — or the confidence — to try.’
As for why their fifties seem to be the watershed moment for this anal play, Melissa adds: ‘There’s a sense of “why not now?” – whether that’s because relationships have changed, life’s settled down, or they’re just more aware that time isn’t endless.
‘They’ve experienced big life changes, bereavements or redundancies. It feels less like a sudden new interest and more like something that’s been quietly on their mind for years, finally getting its moment.’
Where is it going wrong?
It’s all well and good sexually experimenting, but getting something wedged permanently up your bottom isn’t part of the plan.
April, for Hot Octopuss, explains part of the reason men have so many mishaps is due to a ‘lack of proper education around anal sex’.
‘It’s either completely skipped over or reduced to stereotypes, and it’s often labelled as something that sits within the “gay sex” category, when in reality, people of all sexualities explore anal play,’ she says.
‘Because of that, most people are left to learn through porn or trial and error, which isn’t safe when anal sex has some strong do’s and don’ts.
‘There’s little understanding of anatomy, preparation, or the right toys to use, which increases the likelihood of negative experiences or mishaps.’
But Dr Cunningham adds that, in his experience, the over-fifties often don’t do their homework before experimenting.
‘There’s a real reluctance to go out and buy proper equipment that’s actually designed for this, so they end up improvising with stuff that’s completely unsuitable,’ he explains.
‘Older men are much less likely to talk openly about sexual health or get advice first. That generation didn’t grow up with easy access to this kind of information the way younger people do now.’
What to do if you get something stuck up your bottom
Dr Cunningham, for UK Care Guide, says you must get to A&E as soon as possible.
‘Once you’re at hospital, it depends on the object and how far up it’s gone,’ he explains. ‘Sometimes the A&E team can get things out manually, but quite often patients end up going to theatre to have it removed safely under anaesthetic – especially if the object has sharp edges or has travelled too far up.
‘The key message is don’t try to sort it out yourself – the sooner you get proper help, the simpler the removal tends to be.’
Risks of getting something lodged up there
The doctor says the biggest risk is perforation of the bowel wall, which can be life-threatening. ‘Sharp objects or too much force during DIY removal attempts can cause tears, which then lead to serious infections,’ he says.
‘Internal bleeding is another big worry, particularly with glass or metal objects. Infection’s a real risk too, especially if the object’s been there for hours or days.
‘There’s a lot of bacteria in the bowel, and if that gets into the bloodstream, you’re in real trouble. I’ve seen patients who’ve waited days out of sheer embarrassment, and it’s become a much bigger problem than it needed to be.’
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