While a Reddit user surveyed 950 participants—626 identified as male, 306 identified as female, and 18 people put their gender as “other”—they found that 65.7% of respondents wipe sitting down and 34.3% wipe standing up. But even though standing wipers may be in the minority, they do exist.
Some people remain sitting, while others stand up to the task. Whisper conducted a survey of 100 people, split equally between men and women. Polling them on their sit-or-stand preference, we found that 79% of respondents were sitters, and only 21% stand up to wipe.
“If you wipe back to front, there's a potential to introduce bacteria from the feces into the urinary tract and get an infection,” he says. He adds that women have a shorter urethra than men, which is why they get more UTIs and it's recommended for women to wipe from front to back.
But if you find that excessive wiping is the rule and not the exception, consider that one of these conditions could be the underlying cause. Anal abscess or fistula An anal abscess is an infection of the anal gland that causes pain, redness, and drainage in the rectal area. The discharge may be blood, pus, or stool.
To Sit or Stand During Wiping
Ultimately, this is a personal preference – with benefits to each method. For sitters, the main pro is cheeks stay spread, preventing any cheek-on-cheek smearing. That means easy cleaning access.
Also called bowel leakage, fecal incontinence means you have little to no control over your bowel movements. According to Mayo Clinic, this issue can be caused by weak sphincter muscles, nerve damage, chronic constipation, or rectal injuries.
It may be that you're suffering from fecal incontinence, which can be a thing that's not at all a big deal or can indicate a serious problem. The doctor will be able to tell you what's going on with your rear end; the solution may be as simple as adding some anal kegels to your daily exercise routine.
Lesson number one: "Always wipe from front to back," says Alyssa Dweck, M.D., an ob-gyn and author of V is for Vagina. "Wiping from back to front can bring bacteria from the rectum toward the urethra and increase your chances of a urinary tract infection," she explains.
The Ghost Wipe is a sturdy wiping material moistened with DI water that holds together even on the roughest wiping surfaces. In the lab, the Ghost Wipe readily and completely dissolves during the digestion process. This feature provides more complete dispersion of analytes and more uniform recoveries.
The scholars at Urban Dictionary defined ghost poops as “The single most satisfying bowel movement that man is capable of.” Generally speaking, a ghost poop means you experience the relief of a bowel movement without seeing any evidence of it, whether inside the toilet bowl or when you wipe your butt.
George explained that if you're wiping more than two to three times this is actually called faecal smearing. “This is when too much faecal matter stays at the entrance of the anus after you've finished a poo,” she explained in the video, which has now garnered 106. k likes on TikTok.
Nearly all women (90%) say they always wipe with toilet paper after peeing, while just 22% of men say they do.
Try to keep it light and make it fun. Make it a good part of her daily routine and praise her achievements. Talk positively and reassure her every time she uses the toilet paper correctly and wipes herself front to back. Watch when she does it and be supportive when she doesn't get it right.
While a Reddit user surveyed 950 participants—626 identified as male, 306 identified as female, and 18 people put their gender as “other”—they found that 65.7% of respondents wipe sitting down and 34.3% wipe standing up. But even though standing wipers may be in the minority, they do exist.
✓ Always wipe from front to back
This is by far the most important and undeniably true approach to wiping after peeing. Doing so avoids the risk of urinary tract infections caused by bringing in bacteria from the rear.
WHAT CAUSES SKIDMARKS? Okay, so the most common reason why skid marks occur is that you aren't wiping properly. If that's the case, the fix is easy. There's no need to be embarrassed but if you frequently soil your underwear without any related health issues, the problem is probably your wiping skills.
(Hemorrhoids are inflamed or swollen veins in the rectum or anus.) It's possible, too, that tiny bits of poop can get stuck in the hair around the anus and stay there if you don't wipe thoroughly, Rodgers said: “It can be incredibly irritating to the skin, and then you have an itchy butthole — and that's embarrassing.”
Why do some people wipe standing up? To get to the bottom of it (pun intended), we talked to two different standing wipers, both of whom will remain anonymous. For the most part, it seems that – just like sitting – it's a matter of both habit and convenience. "I know of no other way!" one said.
Over-wiping with rough and dry toilet paper can lead to itching, pain, and bleeding. In fact, improper wiping is the leading cause of America's most common bum-related injury – anal fissures (aka anal tears). Other common problems include UTI's and hemorrhoids.
Again this comes down to stool consistency. If the stool is too soft, then it is difficult for the anal sphincter muscle to 'pinch it off' for a clean evacuation, leaving fecal matter to smear in the perianal creases. Another reason for this could be a weakness of the pelvic floor muscles.
Ideally, you should need to wipe a couple times after a bowel movement, says James Gordon, MD, a gastroenterologist with Banner Health in Sun City West, Arizona. Wiping one, two or three times is likely totally normal.