Scrolling starts innocently. One text turns into ten minutes of headlines, memes, and TikTok. A new study shows that this everyday habit on the toilet is just strange and risky.
Spending extra time on the bowl might seem like downtime, but it is quietly inviting a list of health problems nobody wants to deal with.
It can stretch your bathroom stay from quick to endless. That extra time adds pressure to veins in your rectum, raising your chance of hemorrhoids by 46% according to a new study. This happens even if you’re healthy, active, and not straining. That small screen can keep you sitting long after your body is done.
Painful Tears You Will Definitely Feel
Staring at your phone while sitting too long can lead to anal fissures. These are tiny cuts in the anal lining that burn, sting, and sometimes bleed. Sitting lets blood pool in the area, softening the tissues and making them more likely to tear.
Freepik / If you have ever felt a sharp pain during a bowel movement, bathroom doomscrooling could be to blame.
One man scrolled through 30 minutes of game time on the toilet and ended up with part of his rectum hanging outside his body. That is rectal prolapse, and it is not rare for frequent phone scrollers. When pelvic muscles weaken from constant pressure, things start to shift.
Your Pelvic Floor Can’t Catch a Break
Toilet seats don’t support your body like chairs. That means your pelvic muscles are working overtime. The more you scroll, the longer you sit, and the weaker those muscles get. Over time, that can lead to constipation, leaking, and pain.
One out of six phones has fecal bacteria like E. coli on it. Why? Flushing spreads particles in the air. If you are scrolling while flushing, your phone gets coated. That phone touches your hands, your face, and maybe your snacks.
Blood Pressure Crashes When You Least Expect It
Straining and sitting too long stimulates a nerve called the vagus. That nerve tells your heart to slow down and your blood pressure to drop. Stand up too quickly after a long scroll, and you might black out. It is called vasovagal syncope, and it can lead to dangerous falls if you faint.
Freepik / Bathrooms scrolling may leave you with numb legs. Sit too long, and you could develop “toilet seat neuropathy,” where nerves in your legs are compressed.
Some cases have ended in gangrene or sepsis. Numb legs should never be ignored.
However, if you are older or sit for long stretches, scrolling on the toilet can lead to pressure sores. These are open wounds caused by poor blood flow. Your body isn’t built to sit that long without moving, and a toilet seat concentrates pressure in all the wrong places.
Screen Time Tricks Your Brain
Time moves differently when you scroll. Two minutes become twenty without noticing. The bathroom becomes less about using the toilet and more about catching up on feeds. That delay trains your body to take longer to go, which messes with natural bowel habits and leads to more straining.
Washing your hands after using the bathroom doesn’t help if your phone stays dirty. Most people don’t clean their devices daily. That means germs from your last scroll could end up in your mouth by lunch. And if someone else grabs your phone, they are at risk too.
