Never Hold Your Poop: Here's What Happens!

It is very common in people to hold their poop until they finish a movie, complete a book reading, or any other task. However, doing so can lead to harmful effects on the body.

If you hold your poop for a long time, it can cause the water in the stool to get absorbed back into the body, leading to hardening of stools, known as a condition called constipation.

When the poop gets harder, you need to apply more pressure while passing stool causing pain, discomfort, and skin tears in the rectal area.

This can cause itchy and painful conditions called hemorrhoids and sometimes impaction, where, passing your stool becomes impossible.

Also, the habit of holding poop for a long time can lead to a decrease in the sensitivity of the rectum to pass stools, due to which you don't notice the urgency to pass stools. Over time it can lead to fecal or stool incontinence, a condition where loose stools pass over the harder ones and get leaked, with no signals sensed by you.

This habit can also cause the stools to get deposited in the rectum and cause inflammation in the rectum and colon, leading to colon cancer over time. Though it happens less often, holding your poop can cause you serious harm.

Source:-
1. Burgell, R. E., & Scott, S. M. (2012). Rectal hyposensitivity. Journal of neurogastroenterology and motility, 18(4), 373–384. https://doi.org/10.5056/jnm.2012.18.4.373

2. Mawer S, Alhawaj AF. Physiology, Defecation. [Updated 2023 Nov 13]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539732/