The Health Concerns behind Bidet Use

December 31, 2019 Guest Post

A bidet is a fixture that sprays your private parts with a controlled water jet after you use the bathroom. It would seem that bidet use is much safer and healthier than use of toilet paper, especially if you are suffering from health conditions like hemorrhoids or anal fissure. These are painful conditions, and rubbing your anus with toilet paper irritates it further. Toilet paper leaves residue, which can cause complications. It doesn’t always clean completely and you have to finish the job with water anyway.

 

You will cut down on toilet paper costs if you have a bidet. Bidets are quite affordable and you don’t need a professional plumber to install one. Bidets have many benefits, but this article isn’t about these. It’s about something much more rarely discussed – their downsides. More specifically, we will discuss the health concerns behind their use.

 

So far, all the evidence of health issues being exacerbated or even caused by bidet use stems from scientific studies. The evidence collected this way has not entered the popular space of blog posts and the like.

 

Bidet Toilets in Hospitals Raise Concerns
In recent years, installation of bidet toilets in Japanese hospitals has raised concerns related to potential for cross-contamination by bacteria resistant to antimicrobial medication. Patients hospitalized over an extended period of time have complained about this. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria recovered from bidet toilets at a hospital affiliated with universities in Japan. This hospital had almost 300 electric bidet toilets installed, all of which were tested for contamination. Swabs for culture were used to sample both the toilet seats and water-jet nozzles.

 

Scientists found that of the 292 toilet seats sampled, 86.9% of warm water nozzles were found to be contaminated by at least one of the following bacteria strains: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus spp., Enterococcus spp., Enterobacteriaceae and non-Enterobacteriaceae Gram-negative bacteria. Nine toilet seats and one water jet nozzle were contaminated with S. aureus. Of these, one seat and the nozzle was contaminated with meticillin-resistant S. aureus.

 

The seat and the water jet nozzle of the same toilet were contaminated with E. coli producing a CTX-M-9 group extended-spectrum ?-lactamase. The organism with the highest frequency of isolation of the Gram-negative isolates recovered from samples was Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, which was recovered from a full 39 bidets.

 

Scientists drew the conclusion that warm-water nozzles of bidets were contaminated with a lot of bacteria of a vast variety, making them a potential means for cross-infection. Shared use of bidet toilets must consider patients’ clinical backgrounds in the hospital setting. Of course, that’s easier said than done, hospitals want to pay less for toilet paper after all. Still, the authors of this study encourage hospital administrations to make bidets part of the risk management program and take steps to carry out monitoring and disinfection.

 

The Sitz Bath and the Bidet
The sitz (from German – sitting) bath is usually recommended as a therapeutic modality to treat anal and rectal diseases and to maintain good hygiene in general. These baths involve a person squatting into a basin or tub and dipping their rear end into water, especially the perianal area, for a brief while. A warm sitz bath can help relieve edema and congestion by aiding venous return from the perianal area. These baths have proven to be highly effective because they reduce spasms. This is achieved by relaxing the pressure on the anal sphincter, thus reducing anal pain.

 

This is why they are good for patients with elevated anal pressures due to anal and rectal diseases such as hemorrhoids and anal fissure as well as in the postoperative course after anal disease surgery. Sitz baths and bidets are very similar. This has led people to wonder whether a bidet can be used to take sitz baths. Many have outright replaced sitz baths with bidets. Were they right to do so?

 

Experts express concerns regarding the force of the water jet. There has been no detailed study of the effects of bidet use on the anorectal area.

 

Bidet Use Linked to Increased Risk of Bacterial Vaginosis
One study went into the effects of electronic bidet use on anorectal resting pressure at two jet widths and various water jet temperatures and pressures. This study found a series of side effects and adverse effects due to the use of a bidet toilet.

 

The study began in January-February 2018 with a search in the scientific publication PubMed using the key term “bidet toilet”. The scientists gathered data based on side effects of the habitual use of bidets, cohort studies design, and case control studies, and was limited to English language studies. Just under 15 publications came up and 5 of them were found relevant to the selection criteria. These were studies carried out in India, Japan and Korea from 2007 to 2014.

 

Almost half of female bidet-users faced an increased risk of bacterial vaginosis with proof of altered vaginal microflora. It was found that users with anal or genital discomfort preferred to use bidet toilets rather than toilet paper. There was a substantial connection between use of bidets and urological infections, vulvar pruritus, and hemorrhoids. It was found that a warm water jet at medium or low pressure was able to reduce anal resting pressure up to 14 mmHg. On the other hand, a case control study suggested the relationship on anterior anal fissure.

 

Takeaway
The authors conclude that scientific literature on the subject was rather limited. The little literature that does exist is mostly about bidet toilets, which are very different from the traditional bidet without a high pressure water jet. The side effects of bidet attachment use are still uncertain. It is necessary to conduct further studies that adjust for several risk factors, such as level of instruction, personal hygiene, and knowledge of cleaning procedures in order to obtain more reliable results.

 

There is an increased awareness about the significance of personal hygiene today, but there is also little knowledge of bidet use side effects. A better choice is the Toto Ultramax.