Do you use a mobile phone while clearing your bowel in the toilet? Such a person is probably one in a million. Most of us like to spend that time scrolling social media, watching or reading something on the screen, playing games, and whatnot.
That makes smartphones essential to our toilet routine. These phones are part and parcel of our daily lives, and modern life is impossible without them. But does that mean we have to carry it everywhere?
Taking the phone to the toilet is not healthy for a simple reason. Risk of infections! Washrooms, especially the public ones, are germ headquarters. Exposing the phone to that environment causes the device to be contaminated. When we use our hands to touch the device, the germs pass on to our bodies.
Research carried out by the University of Tartu, Estonia, revealed thousands of bacteria on the phones of high-school kids. Guess where they all frequent with the phone?
This is not surprising because the general hygienic practice in the washroom is to wash hands before and after doing something. But we do not do that by touching our cell phones. Hence, all bacteria can easily find an abode on it.
University of Arizona's research team had a concerning finding. Their study demonstrated ten times more bacteria on cell phones than on an average toilet seat. British industry research corroborated the findings. They concluded that a mobile phone screen is probably dirtier than what we sit on to relieve ourselves. This makes cell phones an ideal breeding ground for microbes.
Also, a lot of people do not know how to wash their hands properly. Many bacteria remain intact and are later transferred to our phones. Cross-contamination is another serious hazard if we take the phone to the toilet. It works like this: take our phone, which is already buzzing with microorganisms, to the toilet. Many of those have already been passed back to our bodies. When we touch the doorknob and the flush handle without thorough handwashing, we leave some bacteria for the next person to contact these surfaces.
On the other hand, smartphones can make us sit longer than we need to as we scroll through interesting or appealing content. Overextending our stay at the washroom can lead to musculoskeletal and other health problems. There is a risk of haemorrhoids/piles, rectal prolapse and anal fissures, all of which may be triggered by prolonged periods of sitting in the toilet.
Also, we must understand that the main reason for being in the toilet is to have regular bowel movements, which is crucial for our health. If we are busy using our phones there, our focus is shifted, and the main function becomes a side function. The consequence is irregularity in natural function and may even cause constipation.
Going back to Dr Emily Martin, she compared bringing cellphones to not washing our hands before leaving the toilet. Both carry essentially the same level of risk, she opined.
But it is a very hard habit to let go, and if we still have to go through with it, Dr. Del Rosario has some advice. This includes closing the toilet seat after flushing since minute faecal materials are thrown into the air during every flush with the potential of landing on our body or phone. So, the seat should be closed immediately after we do it.
Another thing we can do is to clean the phone with a disinfectant wipe before coming out. But we must remember that smartphones are pretty hard to clean thoroughly.
There is a limitation regarding cleaning material since a lot of it can damage sensitive electronic parts. Therefore, cleaning cell phones is not a foolproof measure, but something we should practice along with other hygienic practices.
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