Yet, as we develop, we also personalize our habits to suit our own preferences and needs," Dr. Manly says. "While it's common for people to sit down to wipe after having a bowel movement, it makes sense that some people might prefer to stand; it's all a matter of personal preference.”
To Sit or Stand During Wiping
Ultimately, this is a personal preference – with benefits to each method. For sitters, the main pro is cheeks stay spread, preventing any cheek-on-cheek smearing. That means easy cleaning access.
Some people remain sitting, while others stand up to the task. Whisper conducted a survey of 100 people, split equally between men and women. Polling them on their sit-or-stand preference, we found that 79% of respondents were sitters, and only 21% stand up to wipe.
“If you wipe back to front, there's a potential to introduce bacteria from the feces into the urinary tract and get an infection,” he says. He adds that women have a shorter urethra than men, which is why they get more UTIs and it's recommended for women to wipe from front to back.
It may be that you're suffering from fecal incontinence, which can be a thing that's not at all a big deal or can indicate a serious problem. The doctor will be able to tell you what's going on with your rear end; the solution may be as simple as adding some anal kegels to your daily exercise routine.
Boys and girls should both wipe from front to back. It's the most hygienic option and provides a more effective clean. But it's especially important that girls are aware they need to wipe from front to back. Poo contains bacteria that can cause urinary tract infections if it's wiped into the urethra.
Either way is fine, as long as you feel comfortable and are able to clean yourself. There are no official statistics detailing how many people sit or stand to wipe their butts. Informal surveys suggest the majority of adults wipe while seated, while at least 30% stand up to wipe.
Ideally, you should only need to wipe a couple of times after a bowel movement. It's completely normal to wipe anywhere from between one to three times. If you have a lot of soft or pasty poop when you wipe, it's likely that you didn't empty things out completely.
Nearly all women (90%) say they always wipe with toilet paper after peeing, while just 22% of men say they do.
“In terms of hygiene, it's absolutely unacceptable” not to wipe, says Aaron Glatt, chair of medicine at South Nassau Communities Hospital and spokesperson for the Infectious Disease Society of America. “Find something to clean yourself off with,” he implores. “Use water or leaves.
Common causes of fecal incontinence include diarrhea, constipation, and muscle or nerve damage. The muscle or nerve damage may be associated with aging or with giving birth. Whatever the cause, fecal incontinence can be difficult to discuss. But don't shy away from talking to your doctor about this common problem.
Wipe Your Butt From Front To Back
You've probably heard this directive since you were a kid, and it's really important. "This means wiping in the direction from your urethra to your anus," Alyssa Dweck, MD, a gynecologist in Westchester County, New York, and author of The Complete A to Z for Your V, told Health.
(Hemorrhoids are inflamed or swollen veins in the rectum or anus.) It's possible, too, that tiny bits of poop can get stuck in the hair around the anus and stay there if you don't wipe thoroughly, Rodgers said: “It can be incredibly irritating to the skin, and then you have an itchy butthole — and that's embarrassing.”
While a Reddit user surveyed 950 participants—626 identified as male, 306 identified as female, and 18 people put their gender as “other”—they found that 65.7% of respondents wipe sitting down and 34.3% wipe standing up. But even though standing wipers may be in the minority, they do exist.
You see, when you don't clean yourself down there after peeing, the urine droplets stuck in your pubes get transferred to your underwear. This gives rise to a foul odour. Moreover, it also gives birth to bacteria in your underwear, increasing the risk of urinary tract infections (UTI).
Is this normal? It's called ghost poop. Your poop is so well made and compacted into the most anal-friendly poop rocket, that it has no time to bother your little bum hole. It's called ghost poop because you swear you took a poo but there was no evidence from it on your tissue paper.
Common causes include: Chronic diarrhea Constipation Hemorrhoids Crohn's disease The skin of the anus can stick to the stool and make it difficult to clean the anorectal area after a bowel movement. Leaky gut Leaky gut is also known as fecal incontinence.
A wiping aid for obese individuals is a device that is designed to act as an extension of your arm, making it easier to reach the perianal region. It is an ideal toilet aid for obese individuals, arthritis sufferers and elderly people.
Why do some people wipe standing up? To get to the bottom of it (pun intended), we talked to two different standing wipers, both of whom will remain anonymous. For the most part, it seems that – just like sitting – it's a matter of both habit and convenience. "I know of no other way!" one said.
As your child reaches the age of 3-4 years old, they should be able to wipe their own bottom after a bowel movement. Essentially, by this age and older, most kids should be able to wipe their own bottoms without much help from an adult and drawing closer to being done with potty training.
Lesson number one: "Always wipe from front to back," says Alyssa Dweck, M.D., an ob-gyn and author of V is for Vagina. "Wiping from back to front can bring bacteria from the rectum toward the urethra and increase your chances of a urinary tract infection," she explains.