Social media users have been horrified after learning about ‘waffle stomping,’ which doctors branded ‘unhygienic’ and ‘a mistake.’
The topic got the internet riled up when Andrew Carpenter, a lawyer in Australia, recirculated a Reddit post in which a man details his wife’s revolting shower habit.
In the post, which was originally posted in 2022, the man said their wife ‘poops in the shower and stomps it down the drain. Not a joke.’
‘She even broke the news to me while laughing about it,’ the user wrote. “You know what a waffle stomp is”, she asked me as she laughed and laughed so hard she started crying! I feel disgusted and betrayed.’
Doctors slammed the practice for risking serious bacteria and infections like E coli, salmonella, and norovirus.
A Reddit post about ‘waffle stomping,’ or defecating in the shower, recirculated on social media this week, leading users and doctors to slam the ‘revolting’ habit as ‘unhygienic’ and ‘a mistake’
Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, told DailyMail.com: ‘This is non hygienic and medically and cosmetically incorrect.’
A 2020 study carried out by QS Supplies looked at the bathroom habits of 1,000 Americans and Brits, such as how often they bathe.
In addition to one in three people claiming to urinate in the shower, a startling one in 30 admitted to waffle stomping.
Dr Fischer noted that, in addition to being ‘ridiculous,’ waffle stomping means that you’re coming into contact with a variety of harmful pathogens. These can pass through toenails and open wounds on the foot, leading infections.
One of the primary bacteria found in feces is E coli, as it lives in the intestines of people and animals. While many strains of E coli are harmless, others can cause infection, such as Shiga toxin-producing E coli.
Symptoms of this infection include fever, diarrhea, stomach cramping, nausea, and vomiting.
In some cases, patients can develop a kidney disease called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Left untreated, this can lead to kidney failure and death.
Additionally, feces have been shown to carry salmonella and norovirus, the number of foodborne illness in the US.
‘There are plenty of bacteria in human feces that, in some people, can be deadly,’ Dr Fischer said.
‘This is definitely a mistake.’
He also noted that if bacteria gets on the surface of a waffle stomper’s foot, it would take intense scrubbing to get it off, leading to it potentially lingering for days or weeks.
‘We have to make the right health choices all the time. Even even in the shower,’ Dr Fischer said.
Social media users were horrified when they learned about waffle stomping.
‘Divorce and restraining order,’ a user named ana_gwugwu said on Mr Carpenter’s Instagram repost.
Paige Gregory said: ‘So is she just doing it while in the shower OR does she go to the shower to do it?!’
‘That is the most revolting thing I’ve ever heard,’ shana.mamay said.
