Stop using toilet paper and use wet wipes instead, say doctors

Otherwise you could be left with some worrying health problems

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Using toilet paper doesn’t clean our derrières properly and could cause worrying health problems, experts warn.

While countries like Japan, Italy and Greece commonly use bidets to clean themselves, countries such as Britain, the U.S. and Australia typically rely on toilet paper to get the job done.

But now doctors are warning that wiping alone could leave faeces behind while excessive use could cause health problems such as anal fissures and urinary tract infections.

“I find it rather baffling that millions of people are walking around with dirty anuses while thinking they are clean,” Rose George, author of The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters, told Tonic.

“Toilet paper moves s***, but it doesn’t remove it.”

While it might sound like a bizarre suggestion, George isn’t alone in her opinions about toilet paper with a host of celebs in agreement including Will Smith who hailed using wet wipes as “special and incredible.”

Speaking to Elle Magazine, rapper and singer Will.i.am said, “Here’s proof on why people should have baby wipes.

“Get some chocolate, wipe it on a wooden floor, and then try to get it up with some dry towels. You’re going to get chocolate in the cracks.

“That’s why you gotta get them baby wipes.”

But cleanliness isn’t the only reason people should consider using alternatives to toilet paper.

Aggressive wiping can cause painful anal fissures which can take eight to 12 weeks to heal and even haemorrhoids.

Another hazard of wiping is the possibility of getting a urinary tract infection.

If people wipe from back-to-front they are pulling bacteria from the anus towards the front of the body.

As such, by using alternatives like a bidet or using a wet wipe, the bacteria are killed or rinsed away which prevents it from causing an infection.