Should You Use a Squatty Potty? A Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist’s Perspective

Incorporating a Squatty Potty into your bathroom routine is a simple way to improve your pelvic health. Whether you’re seeking to prevent constipation, improve bowel function, or alleviate pelvic floor strain, this device provides a practical solution for people of all ages and backgrounds. In the United States, toilet seats are typically elevated, so that when we sit, our hips are either higher than our knees or level with our knees. This posture inhibits our ability to fully relax our pelvic floor as well as maintains a slight “kink” around the colon, forcing us to excessively strain to push out stool. Long term, this can lead to hemorrhoids, urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and chronic constipation.

To modify our current toileting posture, we can use an object to lift our feet off of the ground. A “Squatty Potty” is a small stool that is curved to fit under a toilet. By raising the height of our feet off the ground, we can assume a squat-like position. Squatting relaxes your puborectalis muscle and straightens out your colon. As a result, you can push out your stool with considerably less straining. If you want to try this at home without making this purchase, you can also use a small step stool you may already have around your home to achieve a similar posture. Many people will use yoga blocks for exactly this purpose. Even the simplest of tools can make a significant difference.

In other parts of the world such as Asia, squat toilets are the standard. When people use posture-changing devices on the toilet, studies show, they go more quickly, strain less and empty their bowels more completely. For people who are often constipated, squatting devices can often replace laxatives.