How Long Is Too Long to Sit on the Toilet?
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Everybody poops, so in theory we all know how to do it. But if you regularly camp out on the toilet, scrolling through your phone, flipping through the pages of The New Yorker, or reading the ingredients on your conditioner bottle, chances are you’re doing it wrong.
While it may be natural to want to wait things out (or push them out), especially if you deal with chronic constipation, there is such a thing as too much throne time. Lingering puts stress on the tissues of your butt, which can eventually lead to hemorrhoids or other problems.
“I usually tell my patients five minutes, tops,” Ellie Chen, MD, a gastroenterologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, tells SELF. If nothing is moving at that point, “it’s probably time to get up and do something else.”
The problem with dawdling
It’s simple physics. Sitting on a seat with a big hole in the middle is different from sitting on a chair, David Westrich, MD, a gastroenterologist at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, in Columbus, Ohio, tells SELF. “When you’re on the toilet and your butt’s not supported, everything’s kind of hanging out there.”
Regularly holding that position, Dr. Westrich explains, can place too much pressure on the column of blood vessels that line your rectum (the bottom section of your colon) where it connects with the anus (your exit door).
“Sitting on the toilet for a long time, especially sitting there and straining, is probably the main cause of hemorrhoids,” Dr. Westrich says. Hemorrhoids are swollen, inflamed blood vessels that can cause distressing symptoms like pain, anal itching, and bleeding when you poop.
Dr. Westrich agrees that five minutes is a reasonable cutoff for your toilet time. “If you sit down and can’t have a bowel movement, get up and try again later,” he advises. “Don’t strain to try to have one.”
Straining, or using excessive “pushing force,” is a big no-no, Priyanka Singh, MD, a gastroenterologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City, tells SELF. And the longer you sit on the toilet, she says, the greater the temptation to push.
If the prospect of hemorrhoids is not enough to dissuade you, there are other potential consequences of prolonged sitting and straining. Dr. Singh points to a particularly unpleasant one : rectal prolapse, where part of the rectum slips down and bulges out of the anus.
And for anyone with chronic constipation, Dr. Chen says that all that straining could just make matters worse—by contributing to what doctors call anismus or dyssynergic defecation. That’s a situation where the nerves and muscles in your pelvic floor aren’t coordinating in the way they should to smoothly usher your poop out.
So even if you’re plagued by constipation due to a condition like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the five-minute recommendation still applies.
Poop or get off the pot
Here are some ways to minimize your time on the toilet:
1. Don’t sit “just because.”
If you have the urge to poop, jump on it tout suite. But don’t plant yourself in the loo every morning simply because you think you should go, Dr. Chen advises. Some people do that, she says, because they learned that’s key to staying “regular.” In reality, there’s a whole range of “normal” poop frequency—anywhere between three times a day to three times a week. If you’re in that range and don’t feel backed up, Dr. Chen says, then you’re probably good.
2. Leave your phone behind.
All three doctors agree that toilet time should be no-nonsense. “Don’t use your phone on the toilet, don’t read the newspaper,” Dr. Westrich stresses. “Just sit down and do your business then get out.” Since reading or scrolling can mess with your sense of time, Dr. Singh says, it’s best to ditch the distractions.
Keeping your phone out of the proceedings also eliminates the chances of dropping it in the toilet. Just saying.
3. Treat constipation.
Here’s the big one. If you’re pooping fewer than three times a week, that’s an indicator that you could have constipation. But more important than frequency, Dr. Singh says, is quality: Even if you’re going pretty regularly, if your poop is hard and difficult to pass, or you don’t feel “empty” after you go, those are signs of constipation too.
In most cases, Dr. Westrich says, people can manage constipation on their own with basics like these:
Get enough fiber every day (around 30 grams) by eating fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. You can also try a fiber supplement; Dr. Westrich recommends psyllium husk powder (which is in Metamucil and generic equivalents), because it may be less likely to give you gas and bloating than other supplements.
Drink plenty of water. Fiber and water, Dr. Singh notes, go hand-in-hand; together they soften hard stools.
Exercise regularly, since moving your body helps move your bowels.
Put a footstool (or even just books) under your feet while you go. This raises your knees a few inches higher than your butt, which mimics a squat position—the way humans were designed to poop, Dr. Chen notes. There’s even research showing the tactic might indeed reduce straining and get you off the can sooner.
Notice if you hold your breath when you feel things moving down there. Instead, try deep (or diaphragmatic) breathing, Dr. Singh suggests. It may help you push the poop out.
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If those DIY steps don’t help, it’s time for an evaluation. The American Gastroenterological Association recommends calling your doctor when constipation lasts longer than three weeks, or when you have additional symptoms like belly pain or blood in your stool. Constipation has a whole range of causes, Dr. Chen points out, so it’s important to nail down the culprit. Stubborn constipation can be a side effect of medication, like iron supplements or antidepressants, or part of a gastrointestinal disorder, like IBS or chronic idiopathic constipation (which basically means there’s no clear reason for it). It can also signal a problem outside the gut, like a thyroid condition or diabetes, Dr. Chen says. Most concerning, she adds, ongoing constipation is sometimes a symptom of colorectal cancer.
Last but not least, there’s the dyssynergic defecation we mentioned. It’s actually the cause of chronic constipation 40% of the time, according to the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders.
Dr. Westrich, who specializes in treating that issue, explains that the pelvic floor muscles have to relax to allow a bowel movement. When they don’t, pooping is like pushing against a “closed door.” People with this kind of constipation may have other symptoms, like difficulty peeing or chronic pelvic pain. But the only way to get a definite diagnosis, Dr. Westrich says, is to see a gastroenterologist for specific tests.
The good news is, the go-to treatment for dyssynergic defecation—a form of physical therapy that teaches you how to activate and relax the pelvic floor muscles—can be “highly effective,” Dr. Westrich says.
The bottom line (so to speak): Whether you have constipation or you just enjoy a good read, loitering on the toilet is not a great idea. Instead, find ways to get your bowels moving, see your doctor if needed, and only bring books into the bathroom if you’re using them for a footstool.
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Originally Appeared on SELF
