How Long Should You Sit on a Toilet?
Are you spending too much time on the toilet? Spoiler alert: your yoilet isn’t a recliner.
I get it. It’s often easy to want to spend minutes (and sometimes hours!) on the toilet– especially if you struggle with problems like constipation or difficulty emptying your bladder. And let’s not even get started on toilet phone scrolling! But, spending tons of time on the toilet isn’t as harmless as it seems. Let’s dive into it on today’s tip of the week!
First, what’s optimal for sitting on a Toilet?
Ideally, our bladder and our bowels are giving us regular and consistent messages to tell us when it’s time to head to the bathroom. For the bladder, we should be getting urges every 2-4 hours depending on how much (and what!) we’ve been drinking. We should be able to postpone our bladder urges if we need to, and we should have a nice urine stream that starts easily and empties well.
For the bowels, it’s slightly different. Normal bowel movement frequency varies from 1-3x/day to 1x/2-3 days. The key thing here is that your bowel movements should be soft, formed and easy to empty. We should be able to hold back our bowel urges for an appropriate time to go, but it is important to listen to our bowels and go when we need to go to avoid constipation and support normal bowel physiology. It can take a few minutes to get the bowels moving, but people should not need to spend more than about 5 minutes on the toilet to empty well.
What’s wrong with sitting on the toilet too long?
Sitting on the toilet for longer stretches of time can put pressure on the anal and perineal area (think about it… you’re sitting over an open hole, not a supportive recliner!) A 2025 study explored smartphone use on the toilet in 125 adults. They showed that people who use smartphones spent longer on the toilet (38% spent over 5 min, vs. just 7% of non smartphone toilet users). Interestingly enough, smartphone users on the toilet had a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids! Of note, in this study, there were no differences between the smartphone and non-smartphone users regarding histories of constipation and defecatory dysfunction. This suggests that the big difference was the extended time on the toilet (and pressure on the pelvic floor over an open hole!). This is consistent with prior research which showed a linear relationship between time spent on the toilet and hemorrhoid severity. Other studies have shown worsened symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse as well after prolonged sitting on the toilet.
So… save the smartphone for the recliner! Keep it business on the toilet!
Where to find Pelvic floor therapy in Atlanta and Marietta
If you are struggling with bathroom habits, constipation, or leaking, know that you’re not alone!! There is so much that can be done to support your bowel and bladder health.
Our pelvic therapy program is a great place to get your concerns addressed.
If you’re wanting to learn more about optimal toilet habits, check out the prior past blogs: