The Dangers of Using your Phone in the Toilet, Steve Obiakor

The Dangers of Using your Phone in the Toilet

Virtually every one of us is guilty of using our mobile phones while answering the call of nature. Some individuals do this for want of time believing it is a form of multi-tasking. What we might not know is that this is not a habit to be encouraged. The dangers are spread across health, psychological, emotional and social problems. How? You may ask! Let’s look at the mobile phone itself. Like every other surface object, it accumulates germs like no other.

Our phone is perhaps one of our dirtiest possessions with bacteria all over it. In fact, it is likely to have more germs than on a toilet seat and several objects that we deem ‘dirty’. In fact, research suggests that on an average, a touch phone has 25,000 germs per square inch.

Ironically, you can’t wash it with water and soap or disinfectants. That tells you that phones are harbours for dirt and germs. Same goes for gadgets like laptop, remote control system, blue tooth wireless devices and all devices handled with bare hands.

Now, taking the phone to the toilet makes it easier for the device to pick up more microbes from the toilet environments and subsequently exposes the user to infections. Note that typhoid fever is a number one disease spread through faecal contamination of food and water. That is why our common infections are typhoid and malaria. 

Taking your device along makes you spend more time on the toilet seat. This means wasting valuable time and exposing yourself to more health risks. When you sit on the toilet, your anus relaxes, allowing the veins around to fill with blood, which then puts pressure on those veins and the lower rectum. According to medical reports, this can lead to the enlargement of the haemorrhoids and subsequently, bleeding. Don’t spend more than five minutes on the toilet seat. If the process takes more than that, then something is wrong; see your doctor/pharmacist. Also, being very unhygienic individuals in this part of the world too, many toilets are really very dirty! The more time we spend on the toilet seat, the more likely we’re to contract infectious diseases.

Studies have also shown that those who take their phones to the toilet are those going through some emotional/psychological issues at the moment. In this case, they believe that toilet is one of those places to calm their nerves and as such a companion (a mobile device) is needed. In those days people would read newspapers and magazines in the toilet. This might guarantee a temporary relief but it might obviously cause another problem. Relax in a park or at the beach; not in the toilet please!

Taking your phone to the toilet can strain a relationship. Your partner might think you’re hiding something and starts suspecting you especially when it becomes a habit. When this starts, trust begins to wane and your relationship might not recover if not properly handled.

Let’s practice optimum hygiene; don’t take your phone to the toilet and wash your hands afterwards.