Smartphone use in bathroom may cause hemorrhoids

Using your phone in the bathroom may put you at greater risk of developing hemorrhoids, according to a new study that compared the hygiene habits of people who use smartphones in the toilet with those who do not.

A survey of 125 participants was carried out by a team of doctors and scientists from several institutions, including Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic in the U.S, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

“Time spent in the bathroom was significantly longer among smartphone users than non-users,” the research team noted, with reading news and browsing social media being the most commonly reported activities for those who tend to linger on the “throne.”

“The results of this study suggest a rising incidence of hemorrhoids among people who use smartphones while sitting on the toilet,” the researchers wrote in their paper published in PLOS One.

Nearly four in ten phone users spend more than five minutes in the bathroom, compared with only 7 percent of non-users.

“Smartphone use may inadvertently increase toilet time, potentially putting greater pressure on anal tissues, which in turn can lead to hemorrhoids,” the team warned, explaining that the survey followed a popular theory suggesting that phone addicts are more likely to suffer from hemorrhoids than others.

“It’s far too easy to lose track of time when scrolling on our smartphones, and popular apps are designed precisely for this,” said Trisha Pasricha, known for her Ask a Doctor column in The Washington Post.

Phone addiction has also been linked to insomnia and anxiety in other recent studies. Meanwhile, other researchers have associated the spread of scams and malicious apps with a possible rise in mental health problems among smartphone users.