Proper toilet posture is often overlooked. But it can have a significant impact on how easily and completely your bowels empty, especially for people with IBS.
This is a small, simple adjustment that can significantly reduce straining, discomfort, and incomplete evacuation — issues that often worsen both constipation and diarrhea.
The problem?
When you sit on a standard Western toilet with your feet flat on the floor, your body is in a 90-degree seated angle. This position actually puts a kink in your rectum due to the way the puborectalis muscle (a sling-like muscle around the rectum) wraps around it. That kink can obstruct stool flow.
This sitting angle inhibits natural elimination, leading to straining, bloating, cramping, and even hemorrhoids — all common IBS complications.
The solution?
Elevate your feet with a footstool.
By simply placing a footstool (or a squat platform like a Squatty Potty) under your feet while seated on the toilet, you raise your knees above hip level and shift into a squat position - the way humans were designed to eliminate.
This adjustment:
Straightens the rectum angle for smoother passage of stool
Relaxes the pelvic floor muscles, reducing effort and strainEncourages full bowel emptying, decreasing urgency and frequencyMinimizes pressurethat can trigger IBS symptoms or worsen pelvic floor dysfunction
This one simple change can make a remarkable difference, especially for IBS constipation, redundant or tortuous colons, pelvic floor dysfunction, or incomplete evacuation.
It’s easy to try, inexpensive, and can give you dramatic improvements in comfort and regularity.
And more help for IBS constipation…
You are not alone.
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XOXO
Heather
Heather Van Vorous
40+ years of IBS advocacy
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