Pooing might be considered a behind the bathroom door affair and a still a taboo for some. However, since improper positioning while taking that dunk is the cause of many health problems, this piece may be of great interest to you. Come to think of it; the trouble you go through to drop that single pebble into the super-bowl. It is actually a painful and teary affair for some. The more time you spend on the toilet seat focusing and pushing may be a ticket to serious health issues such as colon cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, hernia and hemorrhoids.
How to Poop Easily- Simple Tricks
It is for this reason and many more that you should learn these simple tricks to help with easy defecation.
- Make sure your knees are bent and are higher than your hips. If you do not have a squatting toilet, make use of a footstool to elevate your feet. The squatty potty is an innovative toilet stool that helps you to achieve this posture. It is easy to use and effective in effortless bowel emptying. Note that squatty potty mimics that natural squatting posture. Now I know why I have always wanted to wear heels to the bathroom.
How to Poo Easily, Squatty Potty - If sitting on the toilet, try to lean forward with your hands resting on your thighs to form a 35 degrees angle and not the commonly assumed 90 degrees position. Learn more about the correct pooing posture for satisfactory and effortless pooing.
Healthy Bathroom Posture, 35 Degrees - Diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe from the bottom of your lungs through your mouth to relax the pelvic floor. Use deep breaths to increase the pressure in your abdomen, relax the anal sphincter and push down the anus
- Eat a good diet with lots of leafy green vegetables that contain fiber. Do not forget to include enough healthy fats like coconut and olive oil. Sufficient intake of proteins also ensures that your bowel muscles are strong
- Training your bowel to eliminate each day is a good way to prevent problems like constipation. Create time say every morning to eliminate your bowel.
- Exercises such as simple walking could help stimulate your bowels. Try yoga poses and abdominal massages to stimulate the nervous system and the muscles in the gut to help with problems like constipation
- Drink plenty of fluids. The large intestines requires fluids to form stool and YES 75% of poo is made up of water. So, get that dunk drenched
Pooping Posture- You’ve Been Doing It All Wrong
While the modern day toilet is considered comfortable, civilized and convenient it requires you to sit improperly making it hard to defecate. Many health professionals have had concerns and pointed out the effects of the modern toilet seat for a long time. A number of studies have been done to prove that elevating your feet or squatting when you poop improves your ability to defecate and reduce straining. Here is a simple understanding on posture and ease of defecation in humans
According to squattypotty.com, “The alignment of the anorectal angle associated with squatting permits smooth bowel elimination. This prevents excessive straining with the potential for resultant damage to the recto-anal region and, possibly, to the colon and other organs.”
A study done and published on the link.springer.com compares the straining forces and energy needed to defecate while sitting or squatting. 28 healthy volunteers between the ages of 17- 66 were asked to record themselves for satisfactory pooing in three alternative positions. Sitting on a standard toilet seat at 41-42cm high, on a lower seat at 31-32cm and squatting. Other factors taken into consideration include; time needed for sensation of satisfactory bowel emptying and subjective impression of the intensity of defecation.
In conclusion, the study confirmed that satisfactory emptying of the bowel in sitting position requires more expulsive force compared to the squatting posture.
Squatting While Pooping, the Anorectal Angle
How about letting gravity do all the work for you. Squatting while pooping has long been the natural posture for human defecation. It aids in easier and complete defecation. When you squat, you assume what is called the anorectal angle. This position relaxes the puborectalis muscle and allows the anorectal angle to straighten and the bowel to empty with much ease. Squatting lifts the sigmoid colon and unlocks the kink and the entrance to the rectum. The kink is the one responsible in preventing stool incontinence.
I Can’t Poop, Help! Problems Caused by Improper Posture while Pooping
Some of the lower gastrointestinal health problems are caused by the poor and habitual culture of stool elimination on common toilet seats. A considerable percentage of the population with normal bowel movement frequency have difficulty in emptying their bowels. This is primarily due to the obstructive nature of the anorectal angle and the close association of sitting posture commonly used in defecation. Here are a number of problems that you risk getting if you do not adopt proper posture while like pooping while squatting.
- Constipation
- Hemorrhoids
- Colon disease and cancer
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Hernia
Sources and References
Not Eliminating Fully? Squattypotty.com
A Proper Way to Eat, How your Posture in the Loo Affects your Health Wellness Mama
Comparison of Straining during Defecation in Three Positions: Results and Implications for Human Health linkspringer.com
