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Don't use your phone while you poop

nate.spot

211–220 of 231 posts

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#211
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might also have to do with how long someone tends to take. I tend to have a pretty slow metabolism and only need to defecate a couple times a week (to preempt any armchair diagnoses from people who think this is weirdly infrequent, every doctor I've had has always said this isn't a huge deal), so when I do, it tends to be in larger amounts. I've also found that it's better for me to take it slow and not strain as…

The healthy range of frequency is roughly 3/day-0.3/day.

That agrees with what my doctor said too. They also said that it's not the frequency that's concerning, but changes in frequency, especially if the frequency change cannot be explained by a radical change in diet.

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#213

Flip side: more sitting on the toilet ensures a more complete emptying and less rushing/straining.

Flip side: sitting too long on the toilet increases hemorrhoid risk. [0] Not having a distraction doesn’t mean a person needs to strain. [0] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12407481/

That's an interesting article/study.

I've heard this claim before and I've suspected it came from "using phone one the toilet correlates to more time spent on the toilet, and more time spent on the toilet correlates to more hemorrhoids" without (I don't know the proper terminology here) analyzing how those two correlations relate.

This article/study asks the question that I've wondered about: Is sitting on a toilet while using the phone (and not really trying to poop) different in some important way from sitting on a bench/chair/whatever while using the phone? The article hypothesizes that the shape of the seat may be the important distinction.

AKA "sitting and waiting for a poop" vs "sitting and waiting for a bus".

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#214

Back when we lived without phones, we used to read instruction labels on all and any household cleaning products that were stored in the bathroom. I bet there too was some obscure newspaper column that advised against that. Yet, lo and behold, we survived!

Mandatory thinking in the bathroom must be an ingrained behaviour in our DNA. It happens in very diverse cultures by people of every class.

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're getting your book dirty for what is, as far as I can understand, no real reason. Why not read your book after washing your hands? (If you have a severe chair shortage, then sure, I can sort of understand: sitting to read is pleasant.)

It's worth clarifying, toilet-readers don't typically shit on their books.

The books contained shit long before entering the toilets.

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#217

Back when we lived without phones, we used to read instruction labels on all and any household cleaning products that were stored in the bathroom. I bet there too was some obscure newspaper column that advised against that. Yet, lo and behold, we survived!

We learned Finish from the back of shampoo bottles.

Did you mean Finnish?

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#218

Back when we lived without phones, we used to read instruction labels on all and any household cleaning products that were stored in the bathroom. I bet there too was some obscure newspaper column that advised against that. Yet, lo and behold, we survived!

There were toilets with bookshelves with magazines and such, even.

I really don't get this protective culture that seems so widespread in current times.

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#219

Back when we lived without phones, we used to read instruction labels on all and any household cleaning products that were stored in the bathroom. I bet there too was some obscure newspaper column that advised against that. Yet, lo and behold, we survived!

I think you’re missing the point. Back then we weren’t overstimulated overall due to constant internet access and smartphones. So reading in the bathroom wasn’t as bad. Back then you used to get a lot of opportunities to have breaks from stimulation, now the ’taking a shit’ break might be a good place to just not have any external inputs and just ponder.

Re: Don't use your phone while you poop

#220
post #218

Back when we lived without phones, we used to read instruction labels on all and any household cleaning products that were stored in the bathroom. I bet there too was some obscure newspaper column that advised against that. Yet, lo and behold, we survived!

There were toilets with bookshelves with magazines and such, even. I really don't get this protective culture that seems so widespread in current times.

It's a bizarre take, too.

I'll state it plainly, your hands are clean before you start to wipe yourself. As long as you put your phone aside, on the counter for example, it's as clean as if reading in an easy chair.

And I'm doing it right now, reading this blog and this thread! Take that, blog author!

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