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Study Links Phone Use on the Toilet to 46% Higher Hemorrhoid Prevalence

Researchers point to longer, unsupported sitting as the likely driver.

Using your smartphone while you’re on the toilet could increase your chance of developing hemorrhoids, according to a new study.
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Overview

  • The PLOS One analysis surveyed 125 adults undergoing colonoscopy at Beth Israel Deaconess, allowing doctors to directly confirm hemorrhoids during the procedure.
  • Participants who reported using smartphones on the toilet were 46% more likely to have hemorrhoids even after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, exercise, straining, and fiber intake.
  • About 37% of smartphone users sat longer than five minutes per bathroom visit compared with 7% of non-users, suggesting phones prolong toilet time.
  • Clinicians advise leaving phones outside the bathroom, limiting toilet sitting to a few minutes, improving fiber intake and hydration, and note that posture aids reduce straining but do not offset prolonged sitting.
  • Authors caution the findings are observational and based on a small, older sample with self-reported habits, and they call for larger, prospective studies; hemorrhoids drive nearly 4 million U.S. clinic and ER visits annually.