Set a two TikTok toilet limit to reduce haemorrhoid risk, doctors advise

"Pasricha and her colleagues examined 125 people for haemorrhoids during colonoscopies for a bowel cancer screening programme. The same volunteers completed questionnaires on diet, exercise and bowel habits, including how long they spent on the toilet and whether they ever strained or experienced constipation. Further questions, according to the study in Plos One, delved into people's mobile phone habits to find out whether they took their device to the toilet and what apps they used once there. All were aged 45 and over."

"Two-thirds of people admitted to taking a phone to the toilet, where most scrolled through news and social media. After accounting for common risk factors for haemorrhoids such as older age, physical inactivity and low dietary fibre, toilet scrollers were 46% more likely to have piles than those who left their phone behind. More than a third (37%) of toilet scrollers spent more than five minutes on the lavatory compared with only 7% of those without phones."

"The findings prompted the team to advise people against taking a phone to the lavatory, or at least to impose a scroll limit lest they become distracted and find themselves still sitting there half an hour later. Leave your smartphone outside because when you go in you have just one job, and you should focus on that job, said Dr Trisha Pasricha, a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. If the magic hasn't happened within five minutes, you should get up and go. Take a breather and come back."

Doctors examined 125 people during colonoscopies for bowel cancer screening and collected detailed questionnaires on diet, exercise, bowel habits and toilet mobile phone use. Two-thirds reported taking a phone to the lavatory, commonly scrolling news or social media. After adjusting for age, physical inactivity and low dietary fibre, toilet scrollers were 46% more likely to have haemorrhoids than those without phones. Over a third of scrollers spent more than five minutes seated versus 7% of non-phone users. Clinicians advised leaving phones outside or imposing brief scroll limits and getting up after five minutes if nothing happens.

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