If you're constipated, try grabbing a small footstool before you plunk yourself down on the potty, a new study suggests.
Most Westerners sit down on the proverbial throne the way they would sit on a chair, but a novel leg-lifting device offers an option that seems to encourage good bowel movements, researchers report.
The footstool helps sitters assume a squat-like position while conducting their business. And that position appears to alter an individual's anatomical angle in a positive way.
"A large portion of the world — including Asia, Africa, and [the] Middle East — utilize some form of squatting while having a bowel movement," explained study author Dr. Rohan Modi. In contrast, most people living in the developed countries "have largely transitioned to toilets," he noted.
But for those struggling with chronic constipation, the footstool "had a positive influence on bowel movement duration, straining patterns, and more complete evacuation of bowels," Modi said.
Modi is an internal medicine residency physician at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center.
