WTF Health News: Is Your Smartphone Giving You Hemorrhoids?

Can using your smartphone on the toilet increase your risk of hemorrhoids?

In this episode of WTF Health News, Dr. Eeks explores one of the strangest health headlines of the year—and yes, it's based on a real scientific study.

Researchers found that adults who reported using smartphones while sitting on the toilet had a 46% higher likelihood of hemorrhoids compared with people who didn't bring their phones to the bathroom. But does that mean your phone causes hemorrhoids?

Not exactly.

Dr. Eeks breaks down what the study found. 

Topics discussed include:

•  Can smartphone use increase the risk of hemorrhoids? 
•  Why prolonged toilet sitting may matter more than straining 
•  The surprising study linking phones and hemorrhoids 
•  Why smartphone apps may distort our perception of time 
•  The difference between correlation and causation 
•  How technology quietly changes everyday human behavior 

If you've ever found yourself scrolling on the toilet for "just a minute"...this episode might make you think twice.

Source: Smartphone use on the toilet and the risk of hemorrhoids, Plos 0ne, 2025. 

About WTF Health News

WTF Health News is a recurring series within Causes or Cures, where Dr. Eeks breaks down strange, surprising, and occasionally ridiculous health headlines with evidence, context, and a healthy dose of dry humor.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Causes or Cures Podcast, your gateway to understanding health and groundbreaking medical research in a fun and easy to understand way. With Dr. Eeks as your host, join us as we sit down with the world's leading doctors and scientists to unravel the mysteries of health. From practical tips on well-being to the latest breakthroughs in medical research, we cover it all. Don't forget to subscribe. Now, let's ignite our curiosity and together dive into today's episode.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Hello everybody, and welcome to Causes or Cures. I'm Dr. Eeks, your host, and this is another short and sweet WTF Health News mixed in with the much more serious interviews with serious people. But today it's just me, so you know. So, human civilization really took an interesting turn once again. We created tiny supercomputers capable of connecting humanity across continents, giving us instant access to nearly all recorded knowledge, and helping us watch a raccoon, pit bull, and coyote live happily ever after. Um, I'm talking about my new favorite Instagram account for that last one. It's great. So smartphones, we all have them. And what did many of us decide to do with this incredible technology? Bring them into the bathroom. Duh. A study published in Plus One in September of 2025 found that people who use smartphones on the toilet had a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids compared to non-users. Yeah. And guys, this is the kind of public health research that makes me simultaneously laugh and deeply reflect on humanity. Because of course this happened. Of course. The study looked at adults undergoing colonoscopies at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston, and a shout-out for people getting their screenings and all that. Researchers asked about smartphone use on the toilet, time spent sitting there, straining, like did you have to push, didn't you? Diet, fiber intake, and physical activity. Then physicians directly assessed hemorrhoids during the colonoscopy. And the results were painfully modern. Yeah. 66% of participants used smartphones on the toilet. Yeah, almost 70%. 43% had hemorrhoids identified on colonoscopy. Smartphone users spent significantly more time on the toilet, and over one-third of smartphone users spent more than five minutes per visit. That's why people are late for everything, guys. And most notably, smartphone use on the toilet was associated with a 46% increased risk of hemorrhoids even after adjusting for age, BMI, fiber intake, exercise, and straining. And straining. The issue appears to be time. Historically, hemorrhoids were often blamed mostly on straining, right? Like pushing too hard. They tell you not to do that. But in this study, straining wasn't actually the strongest signal. No. Prolonged sitting on the throne appeared most important. And by throne, I mean toilet. I don't know if you guys call it that, but it's accurate. At least for me. I mean I grew up in a house with one bathroom for all of us. So it was definitely the throne. Oh yeah. Anyhow, this all makes sense because smartphones create time warps, right? You sit down intending to quickly handle your biological business, and suddenly you've checked your email, read the part of the news story that doesn't require a subscription, and of course, shared it. Yeah. You stock your ex's socials, you stock the girls or guys' socials, the girl or guy you like just followed. And whoo! Depending on how many there are, that can turn into a whole web of emotional hemorrhoidal distress. Then you try not to click on the ads popping up targeting your insecurity, but oh, you click on them anyhow because newsflash targeting our insecurities really works to get us to spend money. You Google a symptom you shouldn't have Googled. You watch a few insanely confident TikTokers in their 20s deliver hot takes on various topics involving health and international relations, even though they aren't experts on anything, but you listen to them, you listen to them. And you watch a family of bears use a human family swimming pool. And you know what? I actually love that one. But meanwhile, guys, down below, your hemorrhoidal veins are apparently fighting for their lives. They're like, don't forget about us. And, you know, from a public health perspective, this study is fascinating because it's not really about hemorrhoids, is it? It's about behavior. Smartphones don't just distract us, they alter time perception, posture, movement, attention, and daily routines. Modern humans increasingly bring passive scrolling into spaces that were once brief transitional moments, right? The bathroom has become another content consumption zone. The content consumption throne. Sorry, I had to do it. Which of course it did. Now, before everybody panics and googles how to check their hemorrhoids, this was a cross-sectional study. So the best way to think about that is a camera snapshot. It shows association, not causation. And you're welcome for that mental image of everyone sitting on the jawn, looking sad and scrolling on their phones. Because no one ever looks happy when they're scrolling. Do you notice they don't? They're not smiling, they look like it's doom and gloom, whatever they're looking at. Also, the participants were adults undergoing colonoscopy screening, which is not exactly a rectum sample of humanity. Sorry, random. I mean random. It's not exactly a random sample of humanity. Uh goodness. I guess it is a rectum sample. It's a random rectum sample. Um rectum, damn near killed him. Remember that one? Alright, and also, to be fair, humans have been reading on the throne forever, right? There was even an older Lancet paper linking newspaper reading on the toilet to hemorrhoids. And you probably all have a relative who sat on the john for what seemed like eternity reading the times, and then you'd have to go outside, like a feral. Yeah. But here's the difference. Again, researchers suspect smartphones may be especially good at trapping people on the john because modern apps are engineered to destroy your perception of time. Ha ha ha ha. And the findings were strong enough that some GI docs are now recommending keeping toilet visits short and leaving the phone outside the bathroom. Yeah, right, right. Like, that's gonna be hard for many people because a lot of us have been conditioned. The toilet is a scrolling sanctuary, right? Some people might have a panic attack if they have to just sit on the jawn and think. What? What? But if you do bring your phone to the throne, make sure you wipe. Yourself, of course, and your phone. Yeah, guys, I remember one study where they looked at the bacteria on cell phones, which makes sense considering the places we take them, but man, it was like Petri dish, hello. E. coli, e. coli. That's how you say it. That's the so that's the public health way to say it. E. coli. Okay, so the broader lesson here is one we keep seeing in public health. Technology changes human behavior in subtle ways long before we understand all the downstream effects. Sometimes those effects involve the air we breathe, sometimes how much we move on our own, sometimes attention spans, sometimes loneliness, and apparently sometimes hemorrhoids. Yeah. But here we are, the struggle is intense, and human evolution goes on. And that's it for this WTF Health News update. And I'll wrap this up with a quote. This one is from Emerson. If you don't know who that is, you need to read a book. Alright. And here it is. The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet. Wait, wait, wait. If I was gonna tweak that for our subject, what's it say? The civilized man has built a smartphone but has lost the ability to get off the John. It's not quite as eloquent, is it? But there we are. And if you're listening to this while you're on the throne, God, that's beautiful. Send a pick. No, no, don't, don't. Um all right, that's it for now. Don't forget to subscribe and check out some of the other episodes. Have a great day wherever you are, and goodbye for now.