BE honest: has a casual shopping trip ever been interrupted by the sudden need to poop?
In fact, do you find yourself sprinting to the loo while out shopping more often than not?
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A doctor who graduated from Harvard university has gone viral after revealing the reason behind unexpected toilet urges while shopping.
Dr Saurabh Sethi, a gastroenterologist with 347,000 TikTok followers posted a recent clip which has racked up 29,000 views and hundreds of likes.
In it, the 42-year-old explained why people often get the urge to go to the toilet while shopping.
He said that the phenomenon, known as Mariko Aoki, was first described in Japan in 1985.
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The phenomenon is named after a Japanese woman, who supposedly wrote a letter to a magazine confessing that she sometimes urgently felt the need to poo whenever entering a bookstore – and in the following weeks, other people wrote in expressing the same experience.
Dr Sethi added: “A lot of my patients have shared with me that they have also experienced the same thing.”
In cases he’s seen, the urge often occurs in bookstores, with the doctor suggesting that this may be trigged by stimuli, such as the smell of books or coffee.
He also said feeling relaxed – or anxious – by shopping can bring this feeling on.
Dr Sethi claimed: “In fact, some people even visit specific stores daily to make their bowels move.”
Users have flocked to the comments to share their own experiences.
“Happens with me every time I am shopping,” one viewer said.
Someone else commented: “It’s probably just from walking around for some people who aren’t active.”
“Library in college always did it to me. Regular as a clock,” another added added.
One user said: “Greeting card shopping. Every single time.”
“Sounds like IBS stress,” said another.
According to McGill, one leading theory posits that the scent of paper and ink can set people off, especially if they make a habit of reading a book on the toilet.
Some have suggested that bookshops can be calming spaces, inviting your body – hence your bowels – to relax.
For others, the pressure of picking out the right book could actually bring on a stress poo.
Crouching and squatting in front shelves to get a good view of the book spines, or the cup of coffee you picked up before browsing, might also give you the sudden urge to have a number two.
It’s not just bookshops that seem to send people sprinting to find the nearest loo.
TikTok users in the US have flooded the app with videos about having the urge to poo whenever they visit a TJ Maxx.
In a viral video, influencer Mary (@theverymarylife) revealed that she has to head to the bathroom “whenever she visits a store with fluorescent lights”.
New York shopper Cat (@cat_turn) even described TJ Maxx as a “laxative.”
What a sudden urge to poop can mean
FOR most people, a sudden urge to poo isn’t anything to worry about.
But if it happens a lot, it could be a sign there is something more serious going on.
Needing a number two suddenly can be a sign of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – a common condition that affects the digestive system.
The main symptoms of IBS are:
- Stomach pain or cramps – usually worse after eating and better after doing a poo
- Bloating – your tummy may feel uncomfortably full and swollen
- Diarrhoea – you may have watery poo and sometimes need to poo suddenly
- Constipation – you may strain when pooing and feel like you cannot empty your bowels fully
There may be days when your symptoms are better and days when they’re worse, known as flare-ups. They may be triggered by food or drink.
Urgency to use a toilet is often a result of sudden changes in bowel movements and is usually associated with diarrhoea-dominant IBS, according to A. Vogel.
It can also be a symptom of coeliac disease – an autoimmune condition where your body attacks itself when you eat gluten – and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
If you experience leakage, you may have bowel incontinence.
This can be triggered by all sorts of things, from childbirth and piles to diabetes and stroke.
You may have a problem with bowel incontinence if:
- You have sudden urges to poo that you cannot control
- You soil yourself without realising you needed the toilet
- You sometimes leak poo – for example, when you fart
- It happens every day or from time to time – a one-off “accident” when you’re ill with diarrhoea is not usually a problem
- It’s affecting your daily life – for example, it stops you socialising
Speak to your GP with any concerns you may have about your bowel habits.
Source: NHS