Smartphone overuse linked to a new pain in the butt: hemorrhoids

Excessive scrolling on smartphones while on the toilet can lead to itchy, painful hemorrhoids, finds a new study.

Of all the crappy ways smartphones have affected our health, this one is a real kick in the pants.

A first-of-its-kind study links excessive scrolling on the phone while sitting on the toilet with hemorrhoids.

(Insert poo emojis.)

But, seriously. Sitting on an open bowl offers no support for the pelvic floor. That puts pressure on veins in the rectum, making them swollen and inflamed.

“The longer you sit on the toilet, the worse it is for you,” said Dr. Trisha Pasricha, director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Institute for Gut-Brain Research Institute in Boston. Pasricha is also an author of the study, which was published Wednesday in PLOS One.