Sometimes you think you need to go to the bathroom, but once you sit on the toilet you realize that you didn’t really have to go all that much, so you pick up your phone, start scrolling on IG, and wait for it to come.

Sounds familiar? Don’t worry, we’re all doing it. There are so many memes joking about how when people forget their phone in the bathroom, they’re reading all sorts of labels on cleaning products and shampoos, and this is true.

But the thing is, prolonged sitting on the toilet might actually have some bad consequences on your health. Sitting and pushing on the toilet when there’s nothing coming out is the main cause of hemorrhoids.

If you don’t know what hemorrhoids are, then look for these symptoms:

• Pain around the anus
• Itching around the anus
• A painful lump around the anus
• Bloody poop
• Pain when pooping
• Blood after having pooped

Yes, hemorrhoids are painful and annoying, but no worries, they are not life-threatening.

These are some of the reasons why hemorrhoids appear in the first place, so you might wanna pay attention if you’re doing some or all of these things:

• Sitting for a prolonged period of time, especially on a toilet
• Straining during pooping
• Chronic constipation that went bad
• Family history of dealing with hemorrhoids

First and foremost, it’s always good to stop spending so much time on the toilet – preferably less than 10-15 minutes. And avoid any straining during pooping. If hemorrhoids run in your family, you need to be extra cautious. These are some of the precautions you might take:

• Drink a lot of water to prevent hard stools
• Exercise regularly to prevent constipation
• Avoid sitting for too long, especially on tough surfaces
• Make your diet high in fiber. Brown rice, pears, whole wheat, carrots, oatmeal, all of these are gonna do wonders for your stool.