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Fitness & Health

12th Nov 2021

Doctor reveals painful risks of spending more than 10 minutes on the toilet

Charlie Herbert

toilet

Sh*t or get off the pot

We’ve all been guilty of it. Enjoying a nice, long, relaxing sit on the toilet, escaping the stress and worries of the world in the safe porcelain sanctity of the bathroom.

However it turns out that even here we aren’t safe – because spending too long on the toilet can have some pretty painful health risks.

According to Dr Karan Raj, who has more than 4.4 million followers on TikTok, spending longer than 10 minutes on the toilet can cause serious problems.

Dr Raj explains that spending too long on the pot can cause haemorrhoids as “the longer you spend on the toilet the longer the blood can pool” in veins around the area.

Along with this advice, Dr Raj also says to avoid straining when on the toilet and making sure that we eat plenty of fibre.

@dr.karanr Don’t do this! @Science #schoolwithdrkaran #learnontiktok #toilet ♬ Lofi – Domknowz

As you’ll be able to see from the weird cartoon at the start of the video, haemorrhoids can require surgery and are known to cause incredible discomfort.

So maybe next time you’re whiling away the hours by chuckling at TikToks or even swiping left and right on certain apps – pause, get up and move to a chair or bed.

After a thorough hand wash, of course.

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