Spend no more than 10 minutes sitting on a toilet, say doctors Farah Monzur, director of Long Island's Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Stony Brook Medicine and Lai Xue, a colorectal surgeon out of Dallas. One's buttocks are compressed by the seat's descending oval shape, "keeping the rectum in a lower position" compared to a flat seat and creating "A one-way valve where blood enters, but blood really can't go back."
As a result, the veins and blood vessels surrounding the anus and lower rectum become enlarged and engorged with blood, increasing the risk of hemorrhoids. Forced straining can also increase the pressure to allow hemorrhoids to build. People scrolling on their phones on the toilet tend to lose track of time, Monzur said, sitting and straining their muscles to get a bowel movement out.
And guess what? Your doctors can tell. "Nowadays, we're seeing an increase in people passing more time on the toilet, and that is very much unhealthy for the anorectal organs and the pelvic floor," Xue added.
I've never been a toilet lurker myself but will be sure to watch for my rectal pout on the john.
