Oh, he went there alright!
In the spring of 2011, Dr. Joseph Mercola (you know the guy, www.mercola.com) had a daily blog post about the most personal of the personals- toilet hygiene! That’s right, he talked about our cleanliness on the toilet, and what we could do to improve it. An honorable endeavor that we have shied away from until now, but I figured, if he can talk about it, so can we!
In Mercola’s article, he takes the “convincing” approach and gets, uh, graphic about it (see link below). Of course, he has a product to sell. But I have to say, what he’s come up with is a good solution. He is selling a toilet-mounted bidet!
What is a bidet? Well, even if you know the answer to this question, this is still an interesting article from Wikipedia (an outfit we don’t usually promote- but that’s a topic for another post!).
(l) Bidet (r) Toilet
I personally have always seen the value in a bidet and secretly wanted one. But at the same time, honestly, the thought of having water squirting on my nether regions from something that looks like a toilet was a bit, uh, disturbing. However, the ability to “wash” yourself after every trip to the toilet is a great idea, and it does save money on toilet paper! So when I saw that a reasonably priced, toilet-mounted bidet was available, I thought it deserved some consideration.
After having experienced a few skin irritations “down there” over the years, always after wiping, I always had the suspicion that the chemicals they process toilet paper with were harsh, irritating and harmful. Maybe I was sensitive to those chemicals and this was the cause of the irritation…Hmmm, warrants a little research…anyone game, then email me what you find out!
At the same time, I don’t know what else to do to avoid using toilet paper. There is newspaper- but the newsprint is not exactly healthy and I’ve always reacted to it, so that’s not an option. I could use leaves and grass to wipe with but I can tell you right now, that is not going to happen- unless I am in the woods! Considering myself a civilized person from Western society, I have no need to take measures that extreme to avoid a harmful exposure that can be resolved, in part, by a simple and cost effective solution- like a toilet mounted bidet or even a personal (and portable) water bottle.
Typical “Squirt Bottle” We Used
You know, in my family growing up, we ALWAYS had a water bottle (we called them a “squirt bottle”) by the toilet. Why? Simple, it was a like having a hand-held bidet- only I didn’t make the bidet connection until much later. I guess my parents knew that value and practicality of using water to wash your bottom side with at each sitting. In fact, I had totally rebelled against using the “squirt-bottle” in my late teens and twenties (and that is precisely when I had the most trouble with hind-side irritations!). It wasn’t until I resumed using one that the irritations almost completely subsided (homeopathic treatment resolved the rest!).
So, in the interest of being “clean and healthy”, here are the two solutions we are presenting to you for personal toilet hygiene. And did we mention they are “eco-friendly” (laugh!):
- Personal, Portable Bidet Squirt Bottle: This one is my favorite. There are numerous variations available at most local beauty supply stores. Any flexible/squeezable bottle with a slanted tip works well.
Disclaimer: Homeopathic Associates and its agents do not profit financially in any way from the links or sales of the products listed herein.
