Using your phone while sitting on the toilet could have serious consequences for your health, according to a recent study.
Its results indicate that this bathroom habit isn’t just unhygienic, but could significantly increase your risk of developing haemorrhoids, otherwise known as piles: swollen veins in the anal or rectal area that can cause pain and bleeding.
Scientists in the US conducted a survey of 125 adults whose gut health was being investigated with a colonoscopy (a procedure where doctors insert a camera into the intestines).
Participants answered questions about their lifestyle and toilet habits, and the doctors who completed their colonoscopies assessed them for haemorrhoids.
In total, 66 per cent of the participants said they used their smartphones while dropping a number two, mostly admitting to scrolling on social media or reading the news. Toilet scrollers were more likely to be younger than non-scrollers.
The researchers used statistical analysis to adjust for other factors linked to haemorrhoid risk, such as physical activity, age and diet.
They then found that individuals who brought their phones to the toilet had a 46 per cent higher risk of haemorrhoids than those who didn’t.
So why is scrolling so bad? It all comes down to how long you're sitting on the toilet, which is likely to increase when you're distracted by your phone.
In fact, 37 per cent of toilet scrollers in this study admitted to spending more than five minutes on the toilet per visit, compared to just 7.1 per cent of non-scrollers.
The scientists suggested that spending this extra time could increase pressure on the bottom – including the anal tissues at risk of swelling up into haemorrhoids.
Senior author Dr Trisha Pasricha, instructor of medicine at Harvard University, told BBC Science Focus: “Don’t bring your smartphone to the toilet! It distracts you from the task at hand.”
At the very least, she recommended setting a five-minute timer or opting for old-school entertainment, such as a magazine, “that isn’t expressly designed to make you lose all sense of time, like social media is.”
Haemorrhoids lead to nearly four million visits to the doctor or emergency room per year in the US – and in the UK, haemorrhoids are estimated to affect around 10 per cent of the population per year.
Through anecdotal claims, they were already associated with bathroom phone use – but there are surprisingly few studies that provide evidence for this.
“I think we still have so much to learn about the health impacts of constant scrolling on our phones,” said Pasricha. “Our study pointed, for the first time, to a link between smartphone use on the toilet and haemorrhoids, but it’s only the first step in what I hope will be much more research into this area.”
Read more:
- Here’s the best way to sit for better poops, according to science
- Smart toilet checks your health by analysing your wees and poos
- Here’s what your pooping frequency says about your health
About our expert
Dr Trisha Pasricha is a gastroenterologist and Director of the Gut-Brain Reseach Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She is also instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a recipient of a Research Scholar Award from the American Gastroenterological Association. Pasricha is also a medical journalist and author of the forthcoming book You've Been Pooping All Wrong (Avery, £22).
