Medical and surgical risks in handballing: implications of an inadequate socialization process.

Handballing (fist fucking) has long been practiced by male homosexual partners with few evident consequences of a medically serious nature. In recent years, however, medical and surgical risks have risen as handballing has come to be practiced in groups. The potential for physical harm (e.g., rupture of the anal sphincter, perforation of the colon, the spread of anorectal and colon disease, and disturbance of heart rhythms due to vagovagal response), although widely understood, has not been studied statistically. Only three articles in medical journals have commented on the subject and then only as recorded observations. This article describes: (1) how club-sponsored social events function, (2) the medical and surgical risks to those who choose handballing as a sexual life-style, and (3) the precautions to be taken if risks are to be minimized.