You've probably heard that few things in life are certain other than death and taxes, but we'd like to add one more thing to the list: cleaning up the bathroom.
So since we have to do it, what is the best technique?
The preferred method of wiping “is not wiping,” nationally known anal surgeon Dr. Evan Goldstein – Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, co-hosts of the HuffPost “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast – when we spoke with him recently.
“When you look at someone [anus], there are these folds on the left and right – it's like an accordion. It opens. It’s closing,” said Goldstein, who is also CEO and founder of Bespoke Surgical.
“At the front and back – towards the vagina, the penis and testicle area or the tailbone – the skin there is not wrinkled. It is very thin. Where do we wipe when we wipe? Usually front to back – thin skin! We all wipe so much. So what happens over time? People tear their skin. It becomes irritable. It gets mad at us.”
Instead of wiping, Goldstein suggested cleaning the area without toilet paper. “I'm a huge bidet [fan]”, he told us, because it can wash the anus thoroughly without harming it. He also recommended a quick shower or rinse if you don't own a bidet. “You should always make sure you dry yourself,” he added, because moisture in that area can cause irritation.
This is one of the reasons why he is strictly against wet wipes.
“They are so terrible – not just for the environment but for your hole,” he said. “There are so many companies that throw away wipes and I think they should all be banned. I see 90 people a week [in my surgical office]and I would say a third of all the people who come through have problems caused by wet wipes.”
Because their use can change the microbiome of that area of the body.
“Think about it – we have good bacteria, we have bad bacteria, but they are in homeostasis. You are in balance. Wet wipes make that really bad,” Goldstein said. “I see ridiculous dermatitis [in my patients] … bacterial infections. … Now that you've messed up that microbiome, it's causing so many problems.”
If you want to wipe with toilet paper, he recommended “swabbing” rather than wiping, and doing so in a “standing squat,” since less blood flows to that part of the body when standing. And that means less potentially problematic pressure on the sensitive area.
“The longer you sit on the bowl, the more blood [down there], the more wiping, the more irritation. The body feels it,” Goldstein said. Instead, we want to get back to the vertical as quickly as possible to relieve this pressure. “So poop, wipe once or twice [while seated], finish getting up. Why? The blood begins to flow [when you stand up]. The mechanism returns to normal every day [position]said Goldstein.
“Some people find it more difficult [to wipe] when they are standing,” he noted. “They don’t feel like they’re getting the full hole. …But we don't all have to go in there. If you go all out there, we need to go back to nutrition, fiber, prebiotics and probiotics and think about better strategies. I always say, “It’s not about butt health; It's about gut health.' If you have a healthy gut, you automatically have a healthy butt.”
Goldstein also chatted with us about why squatting is the best position to defecate, what a perfect poop should look like, and more:
Need help with something you did wrong? Email us at [email protected] and we may explore the topic in an upcoming episode.
For more information about Goldstein, visit his website or Instagram page and Future Method's Butt & Gut Daily Fiber.
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