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Don't sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes, doctors warn
- throwaway743 2y agoWorth it. That's sacred ritual time right there.
- discardedrefuse 2y agoAbout 25 (maybe 30) years ago I had a family member who required hemorrhoid surgery because they used to read novels on the toilet. It was a long and painful road for them. Do not recommend.
- genter 2y agoWhen I was a kid, my dad had some Kurt Vonnegut book (I think Breakfast of Champions) in the bathroom. I sat on the toilet for a couple of hours while I read the entire book. And that is how I got introduced to Kurt Vonnegut.
- prepend 2y agoIn my family, we read novels on the toilet. It’s worked out well for 60 years or so with nary a hemorrhoid. Maybe lucky genetics or something.
- throwaway743 2y agoEh had em. Still worth it. That's what banding is for.
- krackers 2y agoWould kegels reverse any damage?
- grugagag 2y agoWhat would kegels do for hemorrhoids? Maybe would help with rectal prolapse somewhat but still sitting on the toilet for a long time regularly is probably bad for you. You could squat instead.
- fhfjfk 2y agoDon't sit on the toilet. Period. Resting squats fixed my knees.
- jebarker 2y agoWhat type of toilet allows this?
- aidenn0 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet
- _12yv 2y agothat looks like a recipe for crapping in your pants... like seriously how would you not?? Do you need to depants before, uh, engaging??
- NelsonMinar 2y agosomething like half the world successfully defecates this way. The linked wikipedia article explains it in detail.
- aidenn0 2y agoPull your pants down to your knees; your knees are in front of you when squatting and your pelvis rotates, so the feces will land behind your heels. Maybe wearing very baggy pants there might be a problem, so don't do it if you're a teenager and the year is 1994?
- red-iron-pine 2y agothe big baggy pants are coming back. viva la Jnco
- hunter-gatherer 2y agoAh, these are sommon in parts of the middle east I've lived. I've always done a few minutes of slavic squatting a day just to make sure I'll never crap my pants if I find myself constrained to using one of these.
- tunesmith 2y ago2.7 liters to 3.7 liters of water per day?? That's got to include the water we get from food, right? Is anyone here seriously drinking 128 ounces of water per day? I'd always heard 64 ounces as a guideline, but that's like half. How could the guidelines vary by that much?
- Spartan-S63 2y agoI typically drink 2.3-3.4 liters of water a day, in addition to the water in food I eat. I imagine that recommendation does take into account water content in food, though.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- standardUser 2y agoFrom the linked article: "This recommendation includes all fluids and water-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables and soups" Most people get 20-30% of their water intake from food. But they never seem to explain this in articles. It's a great example of how health/science journalism has been failing us for generations.
- Tempest1981 2y agoI've heard 8 ounces each hour, which gets close to 128
- 0cf8612b2e1e 2y agoI start my day by pounding a liter of water. Usually do a second within a couple of hours of starting work. The initial bolos of water is effective at waking me up for the day. That it is not furthering my chemical dependence on caffeine is a double bonus to maintaining hydration.
- Tempest1981 2y agoNo concern of hyponatremia? Go, kidneys! https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-drinking-too-much-water-can-kill/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-...
- emmelaich 2y agoMost toilets are too high. I'm almost 6' but would rather put more pressure on my feet than my arse. Not squatting but in that direction.
- m463 2y agoCan't prolonged sitting and coding cause these issues?
- hilbert42 2y agoLeaving aside health issues to those involved, people who use smartphones whilst there pose health risks to others especially when preparing food. These people are likely to wash their hands afterwards then think nothing of answering their smartphones when preparing food. I'm surprised that health officials don't make a much bigger deal of the fact.
- eth0up 2y agoYou just kicked at least one elephant in the room, smack in the nads. I sincerely think this is an underestimated issue. It reminds me of the Jewish family afflicted with neurocysticercosis - a disease normally precluded from those not partaking in infected porcine products, but rather normal if the folks handling the food do while neglecting hygiene. I presume grooming, particularly what remains under the fingernails, is the culprit. Tapeworms are quite adhesive. Anyway, if you wish to inflame your cellphone hygiene nightmare, look no further and behold: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199209033271004 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199209033271004
- hilbert42 2y agoExactly!
- maroonblazer 2y agoI'm not following. You're saying people who spread fecal matter on their phones don't wash it off their phones? That seems hard to believe, if for no other reason that the smell would be repulsive.
- Doxin 2y ago"fecal matter" here is not nuggets of poop smeared on surfaces. It's germs. You generally don't see, smell, or taste them but they can definitely make you sick.
- binary132 2y agoDo you believe that people should only wash their hands after using the bathroom if there are visibly feces on the hands?
- wileydragonfly 2y agoThey won’t be satisfied until they have taken everything away.
- hoppyhoppy2 2y agoWho is "they"?
- mise_en_place 2y agoA mechanical shepherd, and one herd.
- kcplate 2y agoIn this case, doctors. In a more general sense, those people who feel they are smarter than you and should control your life.
- hilbert42 2y agoVery true, but then they are only trying to protect people like me from others who act out of self-interest and without consideration for others. That's the whole rationale behind public health and hygiene policies (until recently that was taken for granted).
- kcplate 2y ago> (until recently that was taken for granted). I wonder why that attitude changed…oh yeah, I remember now…it’s when our public health authorities started making decisions based on political tribalism instead of trying to actually protect people in the one moment in modern times when they they should have shined for us. You don’t get to fail that bigly and retain your reputation.
- tomcam 2y agoBig Bidet
- 2y ago
- incanus77 2y agoBarring some existing condition, it feels to me that _needing_ to spend that long on the toilet is a major diet and exercise red flag already.
- _12yv 2y agoSo what ARE we supposed to do for the recommended 5 to 10 minutes on the toilet? Focus on the... miracle of life?
- prepend 2y agoBooks? I fondly remember the tradition of a stack of books on the back of the toilet. Sort of the same issue with phones, but every book or magazine has a distinct end.
- shawn_w 2y agoThat's a great way to spend even more time on the porcelain throne.
- RajT88 2y agoMy current bathroom read is "Ayoade on Ayoade: a cinematic Odyssey"
- wileydragonfly 2y agoBooks are an excellent way to spread fecal matter. Same with newspapers. I prefer everyone keeping to their own shit on phones.
- kamhh94 2y agoMe reading this while on the toilet.
- mise_en_place 2y agoYes, rather we should relieve ourselves on the street like our ancestors. Very powerfully written article.
- standardUser 2y agoOn the topic of toilets, is there an explanation for the continued lack of dual flush toilets in the US? It's been common in Europe for as long as I can remember and now Latin America seems to have lapped us. Separately, but still related, I've been thrilled by the rapid adoption of bidets and rarely see a friend's bathroom that doesn't have one. What are the chances we start to get bidets in hotels and restaurants? What the hold up?
- _fs 2y ago> I've been thrilled by the rapid adoption of bidets and rarely see a friend's bathroom that doesn't have one You are living in a bubble.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- standardUser 2y agoI live in a big city. But I've seen them at friend's houses in lots of places in the US. You can order one on Amazon for like $40 and install it in about 30 minutes.
- phaedrus441 2y agoThis doesn't change the fact that bidets in the US are only in a vanishingly small percentage of homes. As an example, while not at all scientific, open up Zillow or Redfin and look at any random property and see if there's a bidet.
- rcmjr 2y agoYeah dude sorry but I agree with the other guy. You are living in a bubble if you think bidet adoption is high in the US.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y agoThere are clean and shiny bubbles, and there are dirty, stinking ones. They don't mix well, dirty always stains the shiny.
- lfnoise 2y ago"If you’ve had these symptoms of constipation or sitting on the toilet for a long time for more than three weeks, Monzur said it might be time to bring your concerns to your doctor." I've never sat for more than three weeks on the toilet, so I'm good.
- dtgriscom 2y agoIt's not all it's cracked up to be.
- OutOfHere 2y agoWestern toilets seriously weaken the pelvic and hip muscles. Squat on them, either directly, or using a stand, or using an Asian style squat toilet instead. There is no other alternative. Weak pelvic and hip muscles can be painful. In addition, there is also the issue of worsening constipation and making it needlessly harder to produce output.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- wileydragonfly 2y agoSquat toilets are disgusting and spread disease
- OutOfHere 2y ago> spread disease Where did you get that? It's not true at all. In fact, cleaning a squat toilet doesn't even require a flush, only a drain. On the contrary, when using the Western toilet, the dick touches the toilet surface, and this chronically spreads urinary infections up the urinary tract, starting at the urethra, all the way to the kidneys. This is not just theoretical; it actually happens, and only with the Western toilet.
- FooBarBizBazz 2y agoYes, this trend of tall toilets is at odds with human anatomy. The full-on squat toilet may be excessive (and has its own problems), but at least the Western toilet should be low enough that the hips and knees are at acute angles. I keep seeing the opposite.
- OutOfHere 2y agoWhat problem does the squat toilet have? We pooped in the squat position from before we were humans.
- FooBarBizBazz 2y ago
- tonetegeatinst 2y agoBet the danger isn't present in low gravity like the ISS or planets with lower gravity.
- OutOfHere 2y agoIt is exactly why most people should never go to outer space in the absence of artificial gravity and shielding.
- SaintSeiya 2y agoHow convenient this research for employers...
- daft_pink 2y agoWhen is Apple going to unveil the new automatic shit timer for our Apple Watch?
- masteruvpuppetz 2y agoSitting for less time is also not good :S