Overview

• Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess and Harvard reported a 46% higher odds of hemorrhoids among people who use smartphones on the toilet, based on a PLOS ONE study.
• In the screening-colonoscopy cohort of 125 adults aged 45 and older, 66% reported bathroom phone use and 43% had hemorrhoids visualized during exams.
• Time on the toilet differed sharply by habit, with about 37% of phone users versus 7% of non-users sitting longer than five minutes per visit.
• The authors propose that unsupported sitting on a toilet increases pressure on hemorrhoidal cushions, making extended sessions riskier.
• The findings are observational and limited by a small, single-center, self-reported dataset, and the authors advise keeping toilet time under five minutes and avoiding phones while calling for larger studies.