There has been an extensive debate on what toileting aid to use when you have emptied the bowel. And this stems from health reports that show that use of tissue paper is not the best way to wipe your butt after visiting the toilet. Arguments have been raised that tissue paper does not indeed wipe your bum clean. It just pushes the poop debris to one side or to crevices and this could lead to accumulation of dirt as well as emanation of a bad foul smell. There has also been raised the question of how tough the tissue paper is. For low budget income earners, buying high quality tissue paper might be an issue and so they end up buying inexpensive tissue paper which ends up hurting their bum as well as causing irritation.
Bidets have been said to be the best for cleaning up but most westerners and Christians do not want to wash their bottoms after visiting the toilet. Use of water after visiting the toilet has always been associated with the Asian world. Muslims also see cleaning their bottoms as a religious ritual and that is why this habit is looked down upon by Christian westerners.
Use of wet wipes has also been hailed but despite all the praise, it is not without fault. Wipes have been said to be bad because they could block and clog your entire plumbing system. And who really wants to deal with such. We all want a quick and efficient way to wipe our butts and have it flushable, right? The Guardian reported that baby wipes designed for adults have been a source of headache for clogging the municipal sewerage system in New York, Washington Dc, Toronto and San Fransisco. The labelling ‘flushable’ has been found to be misleading since the cloth material used to make these wipes is far from being flushable. If you are looking for adult wipes, go for those that actually do disintegrate
So, what should you use: bidets, tissue paper or wipes for your patients?
While we do not want to come up with hard stances on what to use or not use, we discourage any toileting aid that might end up hurting the patient. So, do go for soft and gentle tissue paper. We also do not want to be encouraging the clogging of municipal clogging system and we therefore want to warn you against using wipes that go ahead to block your plumbing system.
Another alternative is using reusable family cloths which you wet with some moisturizing agent, wipe your butt and then go ahead to wash the washcloth clean. If you choose this as your option, make sure to clean the washcloth with hot water and strong detergents that will all the germs that might be on it.
Having said that, also make sure that your patient is able to use the aid correctly. If they are unable to reach, you can get them some of the bottom wiping tools here.
