How many times have you found yourself whether at a gas station restroom, mall bathroom, or airplane lavatory, the need to squat or hover over a public toilet, dreading direct contact with the seat? More often than you'd care to remember, right? Who knows, after all, who wants to risk touching something that hundreds of strangers have used? But while it might seem the most secure, did you know that this habit can actually be damaging to your bladder health? If you've ever had to deal with lots of pee urges or surprise leaks, your hovering habit could be the cause.

It is an unpleasant experience to use a public toilet. In a restaurant, airport, or gym, most people will avoid sitting on the toilet seat itself because of hygiene issues. They hover or squat over the seat to keep contact to a minimum. This might seem like a reasonable precaution, but medical professionals advise that it's really an unhealthy habit that can have long-term effects on your bladder and pelvic floor health.

Why Do People Squat Over Public Toilets?

It's no surprise that so many individuals prefer squatting. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals using public toilets every day. Sharing a toilet seat with unknown people can make one feel nervous, and folklore regarding the spreading of infections due to toilet seat contact contributes to the anxiety.

A 2019 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health study on women's bathroom habits showed that the majority of people opt not to use public toilets at all. Those who do might hover in an attempt to avoid touching possibly germ-covered surfaces. Though this may seem safer, it has serious consequences.

Harmful Effects of Squatting While Peeing

Squatting on the toilet puts tension on the pelvic floor muscles so that they are not able to relax completely. This has the following adverse effects:

1. Incomplete Bladder Emptying

While squatting, your pelvic muscles are around 30-40% tense, thus not allowing the bladder to drain completely. This residual urine can cause pain, augment the frequency of urination, and even elevate the risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs).

2. Increased Risk of Leaks

When urine accumulates in the bladder, it may lead to involuntary leakage, particularly upon laughing, sneezing, coughing, or jumping. This gradually weakens bladder control and may result in stress incontinence.

3. Bladder Irritation and Urgency

The residual urine left behind due to improper emptying can irritate the bladder lining, making you feel like you need to pee more frequently or urgently. This condition, often mistaken for an overactive bladder, can disrupt daily life and lead to discomfort.

Are Public Toilets Really That Dirty?

One of the primary reasons individuals hover is due to germs. Yet, numerous studies have indicated that the chance of getting an infection from a toilet seat is less than slight. Most everyday bacteria, such as E. coli and staphylococcus, exist for only a short time on hard, dry surfaces like toilet seats. Besides this, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) cannot be acquired by sitting upon a public toilet.

Instead, the actual threat in public bathrooms is unwashed hands and dirty surfaces such as door handles and faucets. Proper hand washing after using the bathroom is much more likely to keep you from getting sick than staying away from the toilet seat.

What You Should Do Instead

If you're still worried about cleanliness but wish to guard bladder health, these safer alternatives can be used:

1. Use Toilet Seat Covers or Toilet Paper

Most public restrooms offer disposable seat covers, which act as a barrier between you and the seat. If covers are not available, toilet paper can be used to form a protective barrier.

2. Wipe Down the Seat

Keeping disinfectant wipes in your bag can be an efficient and speedy method of sanitizing the seat prior to use. Many find this to be reassuring and a good middle ground between hygiene and bladder health.

3. Practice Good Bathroom Habits

In addition to sitting correctly, taking your time when on the toilet is also important. Rushing is common, and it results in incomplete bladder emptying. Sitting for a few more seconds and practicing deep breathing can enhance urine flow and safeguard pelvic health.

When Is It Okay To Squat?

Although squatting is not advisable to do often, there are instances when it cannot be helped. If a toilet is too dirty or not properly sanitized, hovering occasionally won't immediately harm. But turning squatting into a habit can result in chronic pelvic floor dysfunction.

Identifying Signs of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

If you squat over toilets on a regular basis and notice any of the following, it's time to re-evaluate your bathroom routine:

• Leaking urine during coughing, sneezing, or laughing
• Having an overwhelming urge to urinate even after recently going
• Struggling to make it to the bathroom in time
• Pain or discomfort before, during, or after urination
• Pressure or a feeling of heaviness in the pelvic region

Pelvic floor dysfunction can cause long-term bladder problems, but simple changes—such as sitting correctly when on the toilet—can have a great impact on urinary well-being.

Squatting on a public toilet might appear to be the most effective means of evading germs, but it might do more harm than good. Squatting stops the bladder from being able to fully empty, causing leaks, irritation, and urinary tract infections. Rather, choose to use seat covers, clean the seat, or just wash your hands thoroughly afterwards. Your bladder health is worth it, and doing the right thing can allow you to have more control and comfort in the long term.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are making significant progress toward developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) that could help people with tetraplegia (paralysis) restore their lost sense of touch. In the new study published in Nature Communications, participants explored digitally represented objects using an artificially created sense of touch. Through the interface, they described sensations as vivid as the warm fur of a purring cat, the smooth, rigid surface of a door key, and the cool roundness of an apple. This collaborative effort between the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Chicago represents a major step forward in neuroprosthetics.

Unlike earlier experiments—where artificial touch often felt like undifferentiated buzzing or tingling—this study introduced a novel feature: BCI users had control over the details of the electrical stimulation that generated their tactile sensations. By enabling participants to personalise their sensory input, scientists were able to help them recreate intuitive and meaningful experiences.

"Touch is an important part of nonverbal social communication; it is a sensation that is personal and that carries a lot of meaning," said lead author Ceci Verbaarschot, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery and biomedical engineering at the University of Texas-Southwestern and a former postdoctoral fellow at Pitt’s Rehab Neural Engineering Labs. "Designing their own sensations allows BCI users to make interactions with objects feel more realistic and meaningful, which gets us closer to creating a neuroprosthetic that feels pleasant and intuitive to use."

BCI converts Brain Activity Into Signals

A brain-computer interface converts brain activity into signals that can replace, restore, or enhance bodily functions normally controlled by the brain, such as movement. BCIs can also be used to restore lost sensations by directly stimulating the brain, essentially bypassing damaged neural pathways. Over the last decade, Pitt researchers have shown that a paralysed individual can feel sensation using a mind-controlled robotic arm. However, those sensations lacked nuance—touching a person’s hand felt no different than grasping a hard rock.

In this new study, researchers moved closer to creating a realistic, intuitive sense of touch. BCI users were able to "design" different tactile experiences for objects displayed on a screen and could identify objects based on sensation alone—though not perfectly. Participants, all of whom had lost hand sensation due to spinal cord injuries, were challenged to match stimulation settings with sensations like petting a cat or touching an apple, key, towel, or toast.

Sensations Were Subjective

Describing their sensations in rich and subjective detail, one participant noted a cat felt "warm and tappy," while another described it as "smooth and silky." Even when images were removed and participants had to rely solely on touch, they correctly identified the objects 35% of the time—better than chance. "We designed this study to shoot for the moon and made it into orbit," said senior author Robert Gaunt, Ph.D., associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Pitt. "Participants had a really hard task... and they were quite successful.

Vanellope Hope Wilkins made medical history in 2017 when she was born with her heart outside her body—a condition so rare it's described by experts as "one of a kind." Recently, she underwent a procedure wherein doctors split open her ribs to insert her heart back into her chest cavity. After the successful operation, they shared how they performed the seemingly impossible surgeries.

Born in the UK with a condition known as ectopia cordis, Vanellope underwent three major operations at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester to place her heart back inside her chest. The hospital says it knows of no other case in the UK where a baby with this condition has survived. Now seven years old, Vanellope has undergone groundbreaking surgery to reconstruct a protective cage around her heart—using her own ribs. Since then, she has worn a brace around her chest for protection.

She lives with complex medical needs and requires one-to-one care 24 hours a day. Vanellope is autistic and non-verbal, but according to her mother, Naomi Findlay, 39, from Clifton, Nottingham, she is "a happy little thing" who "brings a lot of joy and happiness." Speaking to the BBC, Naomi said she is extremely proud of the fact that her daughter has not only survived her rare medical condition but also achieved. "It makes me extremely proud to see how far she's come, what she's overcome, and what she's achieving. It's a real journey of strength and bravery... she's so brave," Naomi said, adding that saying goodbye at the theatre door before surgery is always emotional.

How Was It Done?

The surgical team carefully decided that the timing was right for this next step. Vanellope was placed on a bypass machine, which temporarily took over the function of her heart and lungs. This allowed her heart to deflate, making it easier to perform the “very tricky” procedure.

Surgeons first detached part of her heart—the right ventricular outflow tract—and the pulmonary artery from where it had fused to her skin. Then came the bilateral rib osteotomy, a procedure involving breaking her ribs on both sides. The ribs were then repositioned to create a protective cage around her heart.

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As you grow older, a lot of things change in your body. Your body grows and develops. While some of these changes could be smooth, other transitions could create a bit of turmoil. One such is wisdom tooth.

What Is A Wisdom Tooth?

As per the National Library of Medicine, wisdom teeth come in at the very back of our mouth, with one at the end of each row of teeth. They usually do not fully develop until ages 18 to 24. This is when they appear and are commonly known as "troublemakers". This is because often in our jaws, there is not enough space for these teeth, and so it can cause pain when it comes out.

Often the growth of wisdom tooth could lead to pain and inflammation and thus, removal would be necessary.

Historically, wisdom tooth date back to our distant ancestors who had larger jaws and thus had more teeth. However, as time wet by and with evolution and changing eating practices, the jaws have shrunken and are thus too small for some people to accommodate the "extra" teeth. However, this does not mean that it causes problems for everyone. For many, these teeth can easily settle in.

The percentage of wisdom teeth extracted in women is significantly higher than men, this is because women often consult more often consult more than men, as is also noted in a 2021 study published in Annals of Medicine & Surgery, titled: The wisdom behind the third molars removal: A prospective study of 106 cases.

Another study published in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation from 1987 also notes that women have a smaller maximum jaw opening than men. This could also be the reason why women need to get their wisdom tooth extracted more often than men.

What Are The Signs That Tell You To Extract Your Wisdom Tooth?

If you have these signs, you may want to consider extracting your wisdom tooth

Wisdom Tooth Impaction

This is when the third molars grow without fully emerging through your gums. This happens when they grow at an odd angle and emerge crooked, and cause further damage to the other healthy neighboring teeth. The impacted wisdom tooth could often grow at 180 degrees in the wrong direction into the jaw, and thus cause oral infection, jawbone cysts, and gym disease.

Gum Inflammation

This happens when food, plaque, and bacteria get underneath your gum tissue. Swollen or inflamed gums are often the first signs of wisdom tooth impaction.

Stiff Jaw

If you witness your jaw being stiff, then this could be because your wisdom tooth is pressing against your other teeth.

Jaw Pain

This could also happen when your wisdom tooth is impacted and thus you face pain in your jaw, especially while you try to open your mouth.

Persistent Bad Breath or Taste In Your Mouth

Despite brushing and following all the oral hygiene routine, you still experience bad breath, it could be because wisdom tooth have caused decay to your adjacent teeth.

So, When Should You Remove It?

If you face any of these signs, it is best to see your dentist and consult with them before you go ahead with an extraction surgery. Furthermore, the American Dental Association notes that you may need to have your wisdom tooth taken out, if you have:

• Pain in or near your wisdom teeth.
• Repeated infection of soft tissue behind the lower last tooth.
• Fluid-filled sacs called cysts.
• Tumors.
• Damage to nearby teeth.
• Gum disease.
• Widespread tooth decay