Why is sitting on the toilet for a long time harmful?
The act of defecation is a process that involves straining. It is based on an increase in pressure in the abdominal cavity, which leads to a number of biological effects, for example, a change in the condition of the veins in the rectal area.
A short increase in pressure is a physiological process; the vessels of the organ are adapted to it. However, if you remain in a state of strain for a long time, excessive stress is placed on the veins. If this process becomes a habit and persists for a long time, then vascular disorders may occur. These include hemorrhoids and its complications, including thrombosis of altered veins.
Read on the topic: How to sit on the toilet correctly for easy emptying
Many people say that when they spend a long time on the toilet, they do not push, but “just read.” However, these words do not always correspond to reality. Our body reflexively reacts to a familiar situation, and muscle tone still remains increased, even if the patient does not stimulate this process on his own.
Therefore, it is recommended to read in other places that are more suitable for this process, and to go to the toilet for no more than 3 minutes.
Statistics and history
The average person spends 3 to 5 minutes and this time is not harmful to health. of more than 15-20 minutes may pose a threat . If such long “get-togethers” become a permanent habit, this can lead to quite serious consequences .
Nature did not provide for man's need for such long-term solitude. This trend is due to several important historical aspects:
- Social . The period of widespread globalization and an increase in the number of contacts, constant stress lead to a person’s desire to retire, to remain in silence, constantly disturbed by many extraneous sounds. One of the few places where you can retire in the modern world is the toilet. In this small place, a person can isolate himself from accumulated external problems and feels protected, so being in such an essentially strange space can be especially attractive for people with communication problems or in the stage of depression. Also, sometimes people living in apartments with a large number of residents can isolate themselves from others for a short time, especially if they are introverted by nature.
- Increasing the level of knowledge and technology . It would seem a strange factor, but it is precisely this that increasingly makes people linger on the toilet. With the spread of books and reading, people began to devote more time to the toilet, reading and secluding themselves from the noise of their households, and in the age of smartphones and social networks, they began to completely disappear in this place of solitude. Even a person with high social activity can easily sit for 30 minutes, because you can get your share of communication directly from the toilet.
What to do if bowel movements are prolonged?
A bowel movement that lasts longer than expected cannot be considered normal. This condition is associated with impaired intestinal motility. The patient is diagnosed with constipation, which can be caused by various factors. These include both obvious reasons (insufficient fluid intake, overeating) and some intestinal pathologies.
The danger of this condition is that the patient usually does not pay attention to the symptom for a very long time. Many people do not associate constipation with possible diseases of the digestive tract. It’s easier for them to attribute this condition to dietary errors.
Read on topic: How to independently check stool for pathologies
What does a footrest look like and how to use it?
For a Russian person this is a rather unusual thing, but abroad, footrests have long come into use.
The device looks like a small stool with short legs . The dimensions and height depend on the category of people for whom it is intended - an adult or a child.
You can purchase it at a specialty store or make it yourself.
To use the stand, you need to sit on the toilet, put your feet on it, and lean forward a little.
The stand is considered an indispensable thing in the toilet room, as it helps to relieve a large need safely, in a position that is natural for a person.
What does Elena Malysheva say?
The famous Elena Malysheva talks about how to walk properly in one of her programs. She shared with the audience information that was recently released by international experts. The presenter gives the following recommendations for choosing the right pose:
- knees should be higher than hips;
- your elbows must rest on your knees;
- the abdominal press needs to be relaxed;
- straighten your back.
It should also be added: if the process of defecation causes pain, it’s time to change not only your position on the toilet, but also your lifestyle in general.
If you have constipation, you should not resort to an enema: the intestines will get used to the help and stop working on their own. An enema is a last resort measure to combat constipation. Correct body position when visiting the toilet, proper drinking regimen and an active lifestyle will be more effective and, moreover, safe.
How do you know if a fissure or hemorrhoid has occurred?
The patient himself will not be able to say exactly what exactly caused the pain or bleeding from the anus. This is due to the inability to examine one’s anal canal without outside help, as well as the lack of specialized medical knowledge. Accordingly, without the participation of a doctor it is impossible to receive competent treatment.
Do you suspect that you have hemorrhoids or fissures? Hurry up and make an appointment with the URO-PRO proctologist.
Bleeding and pain can occur not only with hemorrhoids or fissures, they are accompanied by a number of proctological diseases. As we have already said, not a single person without outside help can determine with absolute accuracy what exactly he is sick with. Don't start the problem. Seeing a doctor at the very first signs of illness is the key to successful treatment.
Here's why you shouldn't sit on the toilet for more than 15 minutes
Just as a bed is only for sleeping, the toilet is only for emptying the bowels and bladder. Therefore, you should not stay “on the throne” for a long time.
Gregory Thorkelson, PhD, a specialist in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh, USA, says that it is not recommended to spend more than 10-15 minutes on the toilet. Moreover, you should only go to the toilet when necessary.
If the intestines are in no hurry to empty, there is no need to torture your body. All these efforts can result in one thing - hemorrhoids. This disease is traditionally characterized by two main symptoms - bleeding and prolapse of nodes from the anal canal.
Moreover, experts say that reading newspapers in the toilet or playing on the phone can negatively affect the process of bowel movement. Here's what happens: rhythmic contractions in the intestines, called peristaltic waves, are responsible for the process for which you came to the toilet. These waves move stool through the colon. As soon as the stool reaches its end, you feel the need to go to the toilet in a big way. If you ignore this urge, you will most likely become hungry.
This happens because a process called reverse peristalsis comes into play. When this happens, the stool moves back into the colon, which is why when you wait too long, the urge to go to the toilet eventually disappears. Moreover, it will be more difficult to cause it again: the intestine absorbs some of the moisture, and the stool becomes drier, which makes it difficult to pass. If you find yourself in this unpleasant situation, try drinking coffee: it causes contractions of the intestinal walls.
If you spend more than 10 minutes on the toilet, there may be something wrong with your body. It may be stress that reduces peristaltic contractions.
Dr. Torkelson recommends remembering to eat as much fiber as possible. The norm is 38 grams per day.
If something bothers you, do not delay the process, but consult a doctor. Perhaps he will prescribe you medications that will make you forget about the problem for a long time.
Well, let's immediately solve the question - how to sit on the toilet correctly? )
Many people correctly express the opinion that sitting on the toilet in the position in which many city residents are accustomed is wrong. It is necessary that the knees are higher than the butt during emptying, since the muscle that encircles the rectum must be stretched. If this does not happen (in the normal position on the toilet), then the process of defecation becomes more difficult.
Let's look at this issue in more detail and find out what factors in the development of human civilization gradually led to a distorted concept of normal bowel movements, leading to the exacerbation and development of hemorrhoids.
Invention of the toilet
If we delve a little deeper into anatomy, then there is such a thing as the anal-rectal angle. This is the angle between the rectum and the anal canal, which is normally 90 degrees.
A visual representation of the structure of a woman’s lower intestine can be seen in the figure below. The structure of a man's intestines is no different.
Where the anal-rectal angle is located can be seen in the image below, where ARA is this angle we need:
Previously, squatting bowel movements were considered normal. In this position, the anal-rectal angle is partially straightened, which allows stool to be evacuated from the rectum under less pressure and with less effort.
Sitting on the toilet requires you to expend more effort to relieve yourself than in a squatting position.
Prolonged stay on the toilet
The problem of improper defecation has appeared gradually since the invention of the toilet. How do animals empty their intestines? Very quickly, they don’t have a toilet, they don’t have the opportunity to sit on it for 10, 20 minutes, or even half an hour, reading newspapers.
Remember, the longer you sit on the toilet, the more blood flows into the pelvic area and stagnates there, causing the appearance and worsening of hemorrhoids. Therefore, it is necessary to use the toilet only for its intended purpose, and do not sit on it for a long time.
The natural duration of defecation is one minute. During this time, a person must completely get rid of feces.
Push-pull emptying
We don’t even know that emptying can be single-stroke or two-stroke. What is the difference between these concepts? Very simple.
You sat down on the toilet, the feces came out all at once without any feeling of incomplete bowel movement, got up from the toilet, and left the toilet. Such emptying at one time is called single-cycle.
Single-cycle defecation is a natural emptying provided by Nature itself.
During push-pull evacuation, the person sat on the toilet, but only part of the feces came out the first time. A person experiences a feeling of incomplete emptying, since not all of the feces have come out. Because of this, he is forced to continue sitting on the toilet further, waiting for the remaining feces to come out of the anus again.
Push-pull defecation is an unnatural bowel movement acquired by man during the development of civilization.
However, most of us empty our bowels exactly two or even three times. Even after leaving the toilet, many people experience a feeling of incomplete bowel movement.
Attempts during bowel movements
Very often, feces do not come out without pushing, and a person gets rid of the remaining feces with the help of pushing. What happens when you push, when you tense the muscles of the rectum?
You sit on the toilet for a long time, blood rushes to the anus. You push, and the blood not only continues to flow, but it simply overwhelms the circulatory system of the rectum, the cavernous bodies increase in size, and they are traumatically damaged from overflowing with blood.
Since the cavernous bodies are filled with blood, hemorrhoidal cones increase in size, narrowing the lumen of the rectum.
The smaller this lumen, the more feces damage the surface of hemorrhoidal cones, anal fissures form, causing bleeding during bowel movements.
The damaged surface of the bumps and cracks itches, festers, causes a lot of unpleasant sensations in the form of pain, the sensation of a foreign body in the anus, and interferes with walking.
As you may have guessed, straining during bowel movements is another of the main reasons for the appearance of hemorrhoids in humans.
It turns out that we ourselves are ruining our health, the health of our anal canal because of elementary, habitual attempts, which are considered a natural and normal element of defecation, which is fundamentally wrong.
We must learn to empty the intestines without any effort at all at a time for one minute, as this is provided by Nature.
Involuntary contraction of the anal muscles during evacuation
Immediately after the release of feces, many people involuntarily contract the muscles of the anus. At the same time, blood also rushes to the rectum, and the walls are damaged by hard feces.
It is extremely important to keep the anal canal muscles completely relaxed throughout the bowel movement.
Constipation or diarrhea
And add here possible constipation or diarrhea. Hardened feces during constipation with their sharp edges damage the surface of hemorrhoidal cones. Without pushing, emptying is simply impossible.
Due to frequent bowel movements during diarrhea, blood stagnates in the anus, which leads to swelling of hemorrhoidal cones and aggravation of hemorrhoids.
You have to frequently use toilet paper, further damaging your already inflamed anus.
The saddest thing of all of the above is that every day you yourself methodically have a powerful negative impact on your anal canal with your improper evacuation.
The blood stagnates more and more in the anus, the cells of the anus starve, not receiving the oxygen and necessary substances necessary for normal life. Cells begin to get sick and lose the ability to divide and regenerate normally.
Source: Health Remedies
www.time-go.ru
Conclusion
Compliance with the rules of visiting the restroom, without a doubt, has a beneficial effect on human health and prevents the development of quite terrible diseases. But in order to make your stay on the toilet as comfortable as possible, you need to choose the right plumbing fixture and lid for it. For more details about this, see the video in this article.
Many people have the habit of spending a long time in the restroom. However, not everyone thinks that this can be harmful to the body. Proctologists advise against such “pastime” for the sake of maintaining intestinal health.
Rules for using a toilet - comfort or health?
Toilet visit procedure
Before you figure out why it is harmful to sit on the toilet for a long time, it would be useful to determine the correct procedure for applying this advance in engineering. Because if you follow certain rules, you will be able to empty your bowels more efficiently and quickly, and avoid quite significant health problems.
The body is designed by nature in such a way that to perform the act of defecation, you need to take a squatting position (crouching and bending your knees as much as possible), thereby placing your fifth point as close to the ground as possible.
The person himself, trying to make his life more comfortable, invents various devices, which, although they provide more convenience, are not always needed from a medical point of view.
Because at that time, at the time when the first ergonomic plumbing fixture appeared, no one was interested in the consequences of prolonged sitting on the toilet. Certain studies in this area began to be carried out only in the last century.
Otherwise, to completely abandon the benefits of civilization would be, at a minimum, quite stupid. But this is not required, it is enough just to take the correct position while sitting on the toilet.
The essence is as follows:
- sitting on the toilet, you need to tilt the upper part of the body forward slightly so that the rectum is curved at a minimum angle;
- this position of the internal organs allows feces to come out with minimal resistance;
- move your legs higher (for this you can use a special stand or bench);
- when the lower extremities are in the position outlined above, the puborectalis muscle, which encircles the large intestine, relaxes and does not interfere with the act of defecation.
Note! The correct posture is when visiting a public restroom, which is equipped with a toilet built into the floor. Approximately the same position must be taken in the home restroom. The only point is to provide ergonomic support for your feet: place a bench or something like that in front of the toilet. In addition, there are special toilet seats on sale, the price of which is, however, higher than that of classic toilet seats.
The dangers of sitting on the toilet for a long time
Having figured out the correct procedure for visiting the toilet, let's move on to discussing the question of whether it is harmful to sit on the toilet for a long time. Since many people spend quite a long time in the toilet room, playing on a tablet or reading deliberately stored newspapers and magazines. (See also the article How to train a cat to use the toilet: highlights.)
It goes without saying that improving your level of education by re-reading Crime and Punishment, or becoming familiar with the current political situation in the world by scrolling through news sites, is a necessary thing. But won't this harm your health?
According to the point of view of medical experts, who conducted quite a long and important study to answer the question of whether it is possible to sit on the toilet for a long time, using the toilet for purposes other than bowel movements is unnecessary and dangerous. It is possible to buy a lot of health problems.
Let's look at it in more detail:
- During the act of defecation, you need to tense the abdominal muscles, thanks to which human waste moves through the colon to the anus.
- Muscle tension, for its part, increases blood flow, as a result of which the veins penetrating the rectum increase in volume.
- If you spend a longer period of time on the toilet than is necessary for the bowel movement process, the blood in the veins will stagnate, which is very bad for your health.
Having decided on this, let's figure out what specific diseases can appear in a person who prefers to get acquainted with the latest press or works of classics in his dressing room:
- Thrombosis. It is a dense lump that appears in the blood vessels and plugs them, interfering with the normal circulation of blood in the human body.
- Haemorrhoids. Appears due to the prolapse of so-called hemorrhoids. This disease is a direct consequence of the dilation of the veins of the rectum. It is characterized by very unpleasant and painful symptoms, in the advanced stage - anal bleeding.
Advice! In order not to suffer from the very painful symptoms inherent in the above diseases, it is recommended not to sit in the toilet for 30-40 minutes, but to empty the intestines as soon as possible.
Why may there be no bowel movement?
- The foods you eat are important: you need to eat vegetables rich in fiber and drink enough water.
- If a person does not pay attention to the urge to go to the toilet for a long time, they can simply disappear, so it is impossible for a small child to tolerate the desire to empty his bowels, as this can become a habit.
- Long-term use of laxatives is also harmful. An addiction may develop and emptying without them will become impossible.
All other reasons for the absence of stool can be caused by pathologies of the intestines and rectum. The doctor, having established the provoking factor, will prescribe treatment to restore normal bowel movements.
For most people, the morning begins with a trip to the toilet. It’s good if you have a certain regime, because this way you can teach your body to play by your rules. Typically, people spend from 5 to 30 minutes in the restroom when it comes to going to the toilet “in a big way.” But did you know that sitting on the toilet can be harmful to your health?
It turns out that doctors do not recommend sitting on the toilet for more than 15 minutes. And trying to relieve yourself by force is not the best idea. The thing is that the more effort you put into sitting on the toilet, the more you increase the risk of hemorrhoids!
What are hemorrhoids?
These are swollen and inflamed veins in the rectum and anus. Hemorrhoids cause discomfort and bleeding. Apart from these symptoms, there are others such as pain, itching and irritation in the anal area.
In the first stages, hemorrhoids can be cured using conservative methods, that is, medications and diet. More serious cases require surgery. But even after successful treatment, there is no guarantee that hemorrhoids will not return in the future. He needs to be watched.
Now you understand why you should only go to the toilet for business. You can read books and solve crossword puzzles elsewhere!
Having successfully completed complex, long and labor-intensive repairs in the restroom, which you did with your own hands, it is possible to enjoy comfort and cleanliness with the emotion of complete satisfaction every time you visit the toilet. But do you understand how to sit on the toilet correctly?
Despite the seeming naivety of the question, failure to follow some simple rules not only makes defecation difficult, but can also lead to significant health problems. Instructions on how to behave in the toilet are presented below.
Best answers
a man believes that there should be two most comfortable places in life: the potty and the bed, because only in these places does a person think about the meaning of life, and spending time characterizes a person’s mental ability to analyze these conclusions.
Darling, in reality this is certainly not the case, although you know better, I didn’t have to live with them
Let's sleep, sir.
we think
I want to poop and sit there
Taking a break from women's chatter.
yes there you go! I am also very interested in this question!!!
Women! Why do you sit in front of the mirror for so long?
and why only men? there is peace and quiet there! at least somewhere you can relax
We restore chakras
there's a recent newspaper or magazine - you don't let anyone read in the hall - you're all chatting
They think there in peace and quiet.
I read magazines and listen to music, in short, I relax and you can also relieve yourself there
they also think so when they are waiting for us….
I don’t sit for long (maximum 3 minutes), but my wife, as soon as she sits down, lasts about 20 minutes. She grunts, farts, and generally rests.
Probably newspapers are interesting now or toilet paper with pictures...
According to the English mathematician Robert Matthews, who derived a formula for the length of waiting in line at a public toilet, women spend 2.3 times more time in the toilet than men. Details in the French journal Science et Vie, August 2006, pp. 112-116. So sorry!
Yeah, men have a whole ritual: sit down, take a cigarette, a magazine (Maxim or Playboy) and still don’t get into the toilet for half an hour until the horseradish itself starts to choke, but you can’t smell your own yet...:(((
Compare the length of the queue for the toilet in the same cinema... and ask yourself the same question
Maybe men spend longer in the toilet, but the queues are only for the women's.
Sometimes this is the only place where you won't be bothered))))
full of thoughts!!!
maybe a laxative will help yours?))
I'm reading a book
No, we're just jerking off... Sorry, but it doesn’t work faster... (((
Or maybe these people just have health problems?
They take this process responsibly. They think about it thoroughly before starting it.
What, we just think about everything and forget that we’ve been sitting in the toilet for an hour! that is why!
I'm not married, I haven't been here long)))
We dream that the poop will fall out on its own, and then we look at it for a while, and quickly wipe our ass, and go watch TV!!!
mine sometimes reads a book/magazine, can talk on the phone (it infuriates me! - in my opinion, the height of indecency, but you can’t explain it to him :))... and also apparently expects something good to come out of him :)))
We, men, sometimes need privacy (to enter into ourselves, to isolate ourselves), there is only such a place in the apartment - the toilet. So draw your conclusions: you give a separate man a separate room (office)! But no, then stand under the door, shifting from foot to foot, and endure...
Remove all literature from there
Don't wean me off. It's from above.
get newspapers and magazines out of there.
and I know what he’s doing there...
how can your wife wean you from sitting on the answers???
Maybe tell him all the horrors of hemorrhoids)))
let him sit sadly or something
Feed like a human
Feed him food that does not cause constipation, otherwise he will have hemorrhoids.
Tell him that hemorrhoids will come out from sitting on the toilet for a long time
take the newspaper he reads! and a roll of paper))
I agreed about hemorrhoids, because it really can’t last long.
Make sure it’s cold there (but don’t overdo it, otherwise you’ll get sick), or call urgently for something. The second time he will definitely not go to “sit out”, don’t let him take newspapers with him.0))
The parrot has hemorrhoids, the formation of which is provoked by such meetings... Or maybe he has problems and that’s why it doesn’t work out quickly???:))))
do not allow smoking there and hide all “toilet” literature)))
what for? this is a process that does not tolerate fuss... ;o)
Well, obviously, it’s no coincidence that he sits there for a long time... and there’s no need to pull him out ahead of time, you can’t interrupt such an important process!
why do you need it! almost all men read magazines while sitting on the toilet... get over it...
turn off the electricity.
At this time, when he is sitting there, call your friends. They don’t like it when you chat on the phone about nothing.)
