Doctor warns against common toilet habit which could lead to serious consequences

If you do this on the lavatory, you could be damaging your body.

Toilet breaks are sometimes extended due to scrolling on social media, or simply being unable to easily ‘go’.

However, sitting too long on the porcelain throne might do a lot more to you than give you numb legs.

According to a doctor, it could actually pose a risk to your health.

As more and more people choose to watch shows, clips and tweet whilst on the toilet, it has slowly become the norm.

A Vioguard, Inc. poll found that 73 percent of respondents ‘admitted to using their phone on the toilet or standing at the urinal regardless of age or gender’ and that 93 percent of people aged between 18 and 29 do it too.

But doing this could lead to blood ‘pooling’ in a place you don’t want.

Doctor Joe Whittington, a professional who is known as Dr Joe MD posted a TikTok video showing why this is serious.

He shared that he habit could lead to blood ‘pooling’ around the anus, causing hemorrhoids.

He warned: “I tell my patients that prolonged sitting on the toilet causes blood to pool in your anal veins, which may cause hemorrhoids to form, so you’re best to not spend time sitting and scrolling.

“Get off that toilet seat!”

According to the Mayo Clinic, hemorrhoids, also called piles, ‘are swollen veins in the anus and lower rectum'.

The website states: “Hemorrhoids are similar to varicose veins. Hemorrhoids can develop inside the rectum, called internal hemorrhoids. They also can develop under the skin around the anus, called external hemorrhoids.”

The Mayo Clinic also shared that sitting and scrolling on the toilet is a common cause of haemorrhoids.

The clinic said as per the Express: “The veins around the anus tend to stretch under pressure and may bulge or swell.

“Haemorrhoids can develop from increased pressure in the lower rectum due to sitting for long periods of time, especially on the toilet.”

However, sitting isn’t the only cause.

You could get them from straining during bowel movements, being obese, having chronic diarrhoea or constipation, eating a low-fiber diet, lifting heaving items or having anal sexual intercourse.

When you sit for long periods of time on the toilet, blood can pool in an ‘external hemorrhoid and form a clot, called a thrombus'.

The Clinic states that a thrombosed hemorrhoid can result in severe pain, swelling, inflammation or even a strangulated hemorrhoid could occur, leading to immense pain.

Underneath this video, his followers commented about the risk to their bodies if they sat on the toilet for too long, and of course, you know where some of them were watching the clip from.

One person wrote: “I can’t do S**T in peace.”

Another commented: “You’re not gonna believe how I’m watching this rn.”

Someone else said: “How does the blood know I’m on the toilet tho.”

Others wondered what the difference between sitting on the toilet and on a chair was, but assuming that the chair doesn’t have a hole in the middle which allows gravity to pull the middle of your anus down, you probably have your answer.