Around one in seven adults in the UK (and a third of kids) are constipated at any given time, the NHS says.
So it’s no wonder advice on how to get your bowels moving again is so popular.
We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about how everything from the sounds you make on the loo to the way you sit on the porcelain throne can make the experience easier.
But Dr. Karan Rajan, who’s known for spreading his medical know-how on TikTok, recently shared something called “the pendulum method” which may help you, too.
How does it work?
After Stitching a video of someone rocking backwards and forwards on the loo, the doctor said, “if you’ve got a blockage in your exhaust pipe, you might want to try the pendulum technique to free the poop.”
It’s not to do with the muscles you use or a particular force you’re exerting, the doctor explained.
Instead, it’s down to “poop physics and simple trigonometry.”
Just like a grandfather clock’s pendulum, part of the swaying technique thrusts you forward. This bit imitates a squat-like position.
“If you can’t squat because you’ve got creaky knees that need WD40, or you’re not mobile enough to get your knees up, leaning forwards is the best alternative,” Dr. Rajan said.
That’s because as your torso gets closer to your thighs, the puborectalis muscle (which shuts off the bottom of your rectum) relaxes.
You can max out the position’s benefits even further
As if helping your, er, passage to open wasn’t enough, Dr. Rajan says there’s a way to get even more out of the pendulum method.
“If you wanted to bend the laws of poop physics to your will even more for that ultimate dump, when you lean forwards, also go on the balls of your feet,” he added.
A caption on the diagram behind this called it the “tippy toes law.”
“This position also helps to get the knees above the hips and gets more into that squatting-like position.”
I would have never clocked that (sorry)...