Pelvic health: Here’s why you shouldn’t squat over public toilets

Have you ever squatted over a public toilet instead of sitting on it because it always looks really gross? You should probably stop this habit as down the line it will have consequences.

Pelvic health

Pelvic floor health is really important. The pelvic floor is ‘all the muscles and nerves and organs that make up our lower abdomen’ according to Betsy Greenleaf, D.O, a urogynecologist and pelvic floor expert. It is the part of the body, that no matter the gender, influences our continence, meaning our bladder control, as well as our sex drive.

It is really important to strengthen our pelvic floor, and there are many ways to do that with numerous tutorials online. Although be careful as you don’t want to put too much pressure on this area.

According to Greenleaf:

When you squat, you are activating the muscles in your pelvic floor, because you're trying not to fall over,

Read more:

⋙ Pelvic health: Women should never pee in the shower, here’s why

⋙ Is it dangerous to hold in your pee?

⋙ This is why you should not flush a tampon down the toilet

The consequences of squatting

But why is squatting over the toilet a bad habit? Well, over time, it can weaken your pelvic floor muscles. Indeed when you’re squatting over the toilet, your pelvic floor muscles aren’t relaxed which then doesn’t allow you to empty your bladder fully.

Greenleaf explains:

If someone is trying to squat and have a bowel movement, they're just not going to empty all the way, because they're activating those pelvic floor muscles, which are really just not going to let things pass,

You may be thinking that it isn’t hygienic to sit on public toilets, but when you think about it, it’s only the back of your thighs that are touching the toilet. If you find yourself at a pool or beach bar, and you’re in a bikini, the same area is touching the bar stool. Granted they may be cleaner than public toilets, but there are solutions.

You could carry wet wipes with you to wipe clean the toilet seat before peeing, or simply wipe it with toilet paper. No matter what you do, your pelvic floor will thank you later in life for not squatting over the toilet.