3 common mistakes people make on the toilet that lead to back injuries.

Toilet Injuries Are Real!

You read that right. Injuries occur on the toilet all the time. Below are a few things you can do to avoid injury while sitting on the toilet while doing your business.

1. Don’t strain. Sounds obvious, but a lot of people hold their breath and push too hard. Not only can this lead to hemorrhoids, but if you are vulnerable, injuries to discs may occur with what’s called “increased intra-abdominal pressure.” Push too hard while holding your breath and “POP” you could end up with a disc herniation, bulging disc or other injury. It’s not common, but it’s possible.  You could also strain a muscle in the back, which can be really painful. Straining too hard can also lead to stroke. As many as 400 people a year die for various reasons while on the toilet.
2. Be careful leaning forward to pick stuff up. Leaning far forward to pick up toilet paper, a magazine or your coffee, could lead to a strained muscle or other soft tissue injury in the low back.
3. Don’t stress out over what comes out (or doesn’t come out). Anxiety around bowel movements is more common than you may think. The problem is, if you are stressed to the point of being in a state of fight or flight, your digestive system slows down to focus energy on survival.  Slowed digestion will make it even harder to “go”, and will create more anxiety and stress. And so the vicious cycle (may) begins. You may have to already be pretty stressed for anxiety surrounding #2 to tip you over the edge, but most Americans are pretty stressed….so, this scenario is entirely possible. STRESS leads to inflammation and tension, which lead to greater vulnerability to injury.