Using your mobile phone while you're on the toilet could lead to PILES because you spend longer straining, doctor warns

Mindlessly scrolling on your phone may be as bad for your bottom as it is your eyes, a doctor has warned.

Dr Sarah Jarvis said that taking your mobile with you to the toilet could lead to you getting haemorrhoids.

Also known as piles, the small lumps inside or around the anus contain enlarged blood vessels. 

It's not so much the use of your phone that put's you at risk – but the excess amount of time you can spend on the toilet while you flick through emails or social media.

This is because straining to release your bowels puts pressure on the veins in the lower rectum, causing them to bulge. 

A doctor has warned that taking your phone to the toilet is a fast-track way of getting haemorrhoids due to prolonged time sitting on the toilet

Dr Sarah Jarvis, a London-based GP and clinical director of patient.info, told The Sun: 'Constipation and straining to defecate is a major risk factor for piles.

'Being pregnant, chronic cough and getting older also factor. But so too does prolonged sitting on the loo. 

'And while in the past, some of us took a good book into the toilet with us, these days it's more likely to be the ever-present mobile phone.

'So tempting while it may be to scroll through your apps while you're waiting to perform, doctors don't recommend it.'

Dr Jarvis said piles are more common than people think because so many people suffer in silence.

Almost three out of four adults will have haemorrhoids from time to time, according to The Mayo Clinic.

Piles normally go away on their own but can become incredibly painful if an internal haemorrhoid pushes through the anal opening, called a prolapsed or protruding haemorrhoid.

The NHS recommend preventative measures such as a high-fibre diet and plenty of water.