Sitting Too Long on the Toilet (and the Role of Your Phone)

Time spent sitting on the toilet — not just how hard you strain — has emerged as its own independent risk factor for hemorrhoids, and a 2025 study specifically linked smartphone use on the toilet to a meaningfully higher risk, simply because of how much longer people sit when they’re scrolling.

Key takeaways

A 2025 study of adults undergoing colonoscopy found that people who used smartphones on the toilet were 46% more likely to have hemorrhoids than those who didn’t.
The key factor wasn’t straining — the study found no significant difference in straining behavior between groups. Time spent sitting was the distinguishing factor.
About 37% of smartphone users spent more than five minutes per toilet visit, compared to 7% of non-users.
The likely mechanism is prolonged pressure on anal veins from extended sitting, independent of whether you’re actively straining.

The study

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School surveyed 125 adults undergoing screening colonoscopies about their toilet habits, including smartphone use, straining, fiber intake, and physical activity, then compared this against confirmed hemorrhoid findings from their colonoscopy. About two-thirds of participants reported using their smartphones on the toilet. Those who did were 46% more likely to have hemorrhoids than those who left their phone elsewhere.

Notably, the study’s statistical analysis found that straining and constipation rates didn’t significantly differ between the two groups — suggesting that the extra time spent sitting, not increased effort while sitting, was doing most of the work in this association. Smartphone users spent significantly more time on the toilet overall: about 37% spent more than five minutes per visit, compared to 7% of people who didn’t use their phones.

Why extended sitting specifically matters

The proposed mechanism is straightforward: prolonged sitting on the toilet allows blood to pool and increases pressure in the veins around the rectum in a way that regular sitting (at a desk, in a chair) doesn’t replicate as directly, partly due to differences in posture and pelvic floor support between a toilet seat and a normal chair. Researchers also noted that the position involved in phone use — often leaning forward — may add to this effect.

It’s worth noting this is a relatively small, self-reported, cross-sectional study, and the researchers themselves called for further research to confirm the relationship more definitively. That said, it aligns with a longstanding, if less rigorously tested, general recommendation to avoid lingering on the toilet.

What this means practically

Limit toilet time to under five minutes when possible — the study’s authors specifically highlighted this as a reasonable takeaway
Leave your phone outside the bathroom, or at least resist the habit of scrolling once you’ve finished
Go when you need to go, rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen — if nothing’s happening after a few minutes, it’s reasonable to get up and try again later
This is additive to, not a replacement for, the other established risk factors — fiber, hydration, and activity levels still matter (see Constipation and straining)

A reasonable way to think about this

This isn’t a reason to feel alarmed about occasional phone use on the toilet — it’s a low-cost, easy behavior change with a plausible mechanism and at least one study behind it, in a category (habit changes with no downside) where it makes sense to adjust even before the evidence is fully settled.

Want the fuller picture of what else contributes to hemorrhoid risk? See Why do hemorrhoids happen?

This page is for general education, based on a single 2025 cross-sectional study (PLOS One) alongside longstanding general clinical advice. As the study’s authors note, further research would help confirm the strength of this specific association.