Q. Please help! When I have a bowel movement it is not unusual for me to experience a plop and then feel the water in the toilet bowl splash back up on my bottom. I cannot begin to tell you how annoying and uncomfortable that is.
For one thing, I know the water in the toilet bowel is not all that clean. For another, the sensation of water splashing on my nether region is unpleasant to say the least. What can I do about plopping poop?
A. We suspect that you are not the only one who has experienced the unpleasant feeling of splashback from a toilet bowl. Sadly, this is not likely to be the focus of intense medical research. There are unlikely to be any randomized, double-blind controlled trials of some expensive new drug to prevent “plopping poop.”
We can only offer a couple of suggestions:
- You might try consuming more fiber in your diet so that your bowel movements are less likely to be fully formed hard balls that plop into the toilet bowl.
- Consider buying a bottle of witch hazel and keeping it in a bathroom cabinet. That way if you end up with the familiar splashback you can put some witch hazel on toilet paper and gently clean the area. Witch hazel contains 14% pure ethyl alcohol plus hamamelis water. While it won’t “sterilize” your bottom, it might make you feel less vulnerable.
- If you put a couple of squares of toilet paper in the bowl before you sit down, this will reduce the likelihood of splashback.
Other Suggestions for Plopping Poop?
We love the many remedies our visitors and readers supply for unusual problems. We have to admit that this is the very first time we have heard someone complain about plopping poop.
We welcome your suggestions. If this has ever happened to you, what has been your solution? Share your story in the comment section below.
