Uhoh! Using your phone on the throne may backfire in a big, itchy way!
Smartphones are everywhere. Including, for many people, the bathroom.
Scrolling the news. Scrolling the doom. Checking social media. Answering emails. Comparing ourselves to others to make ourselves feel bad.
It has quietly become part of the routine. ;)
But could this habit be affecting your health?
A recent study examined whether smartphone use on the toilet is linked to hemorrhoids, and the results are more interesting than you might expect.
What the Study Looked At:
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of adults undergoing screening colonoscopies. Participants answered questions about:
smartphone use while on the toilet
time spent on the toilet
straining
diet and fiber intake
physical activity
Hemorrhoids were then directly assessed during colonoscopy by blinded reviewers.
What They Found:
Some key findings:
66% of participants used smartphones on the toilet
43% had hemorrhoids identified on colonoscopy
Smartphone users spent significantly more time on the toilet
Over one-third of smartphone users spent more than 5 minutes per visit
And most notably:
***Smartphone use on the toilet was associated with a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids, even after adjusting for age, BMI, fiber intake, exercise, and straining.
It’s Not the Phone. It’s the Time.
Interestingly, the study challenges a long-standing assumption. Hemorrhoids have often been linked to straining. But in this study:
**Straining was not a significant predictor
**There were no major differences in constipation between groups
Instead, the stronger signal was:
Time spent sitting on the toilet! (Or the throne, as I call it.)
As discussed in the paper, prolonged sitting on a toilet seat may increase pressure in the hemorrhoidal cushions, especially without the pelvic support you’d have in a chair. Over time, this pressure may contribute to hemorrhoid development. And smartphones may be quietly extending that time.
The Bigger Picture: Behavior and Habit
This is where things get interesting from a public health perspective. Smartphones don’t just provide distraction. They change behavior.
**They encourage passive engagement
**They make it easy to lose track of time
**They may reinforce more sedentary patterns overall
And in this case, they may be turning a short bathroom visit into a prolonged one.
Important Limitations:
Before you panic and start timing your throne sessions:
**This was a cross-sectional study (association, not causation)
**Some data were self-reported
**The population was adults undergoing colonoscopy (not general population)
Soooo:
This does not prove that smartphones cause hemorrhoids, but it does suggest a behavior worth paying attention to.
The Takeaway:
If your bathroom routine has quietly turned into a scrolling session, it might be worth reconsidering.
Some researchers even suggest keeping toilet time under 5 minutes. (If you can. Obviously, there are times when you’ll need more than 5 minutes. We’ve all been there.)
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Work with Me? Perhaps it’s a good match. ;)
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You can contact Dr. Eeks at bloomingwellness.com.
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