A toilet stool is a low footrest that raises your feet during a bowel movement, shifting your body toward a squat and easing the strain that sitting creates.
The muscle controlling elimination — the puborectalis — works like a kink in a garden hose when you sit, and straightens when you squat. On a standard American toilet, your feet dangle and that muscle stays partly closed.
Squatty Potty says the stool elevates the feet to help achieve a squatting position, relax the puborectalis, reduce strain, and promote more complete elimination.
What Actually Happens When You Put Your Feet Up
Raising the feet flexes the hips past 90 degrees, relaxing the puborectalis and letting the rectum straighten instead of kinking shut. A published study summary on body mechanics found squatting required less effort, produced shorter bowel movement time, and allowed more complete evacuation. Squatty Potty’s instruction sheet calls the position a return to a “natural squatting position.”
Most product pages oversell it. Healthline quotes a clinician who says these devices “may help symptoms like constipation, bloating, and incomplete emptiness” — hedged language far more honest than cure-all framing. A toilet stool is a posture aid, not a treatment or a diagnosis.
Toilet Stool Sizes, Prices, and Weight Limits
Height is the only decision that matters, and it comes down to your toilet’s rim height and your leg length. Too short gains nothing; too tall makes legs numb.
For most average-height adults on a standard US toilet, the 9-inch gives the more pronounced squat; the 7-inch suits shorter users or taller bowls.
| Model | Height & Key Specs | Weight Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Squatty Potty Original 9″ | 9″ H; 20″ D x 12″ W; 12.5″ inner width; 2.15 lbs; plastic | 250 lbs |
| Squatty Potty Original 7″ | 7.75″ H; 20.87″ W x 12.87″ D; 12″ inner width; 1.6 lbs; plastic | 250 lbs |
| Squatty Potty Adjustable 2.0 | Converts to 7″ or 9″ with a removable topper; 17.75″ W x 11.5″ D | Not stated in listing |
| Squatty Potty Slim Clear 7″ Acrylic | 7.25″ H; 9.75 x 22.13 in; clear acrylic, non-slip | 350 lbs |
| Squatty Potty Ecco 7″ (white plastic) | 7″ H; sturdy plastic build | Not stated in listing |
The Adjustable 2.0 solves the height guessing game — it ships convertible to 7″ or 9″ via a removable topper. If you’re weighing multiple designs, this roundup of bathroom toilet stool options covers the tested picks in one place.
How Do You Actually Use One?
The setup takes about ten seconds:
- Sit comfortably on the toilet with the stool in front of you.
- Slide the stool to a comfortable distance from the toilet.
- Place one foot, then the other, on the stool.
- Press your abdomen softly into your thighs to ease elimination.
Positioned right, your knees sit noticeably higher than your hips and you feel the angle change in your lower abdomen. Then stop thinking about it and let things happen.
Two things before you buy. No source establishes a universal medical recommendation, so if you have bowel, pelvic-floor, urinary, or pain issues, treat the stool as a comfort aid and talk to a clinician rather than self-treating.
One misconception: the stool doesn’t make you go. It removes the mechanical obstruction that sitting creates. Nobody with a genuinely blocked gut should expect a footrest to fix it.
Healthline’s report on the Ohio State study is the fairest summary of what the evidence supports.
FAQs
Does everyone need the same height footrest?
No. Height depends on your toilet’s rim height and your leg length, so shorter users and taller bowls often suit a 7-inch stool, while average-height users on standard US toilets get a more pronounced squat from a 9-inch model. An adjustable stool that converts between both heights removes the guesswork.
Are these things safe to use every day?
For most healthy adults, yes — it’s a posture change, not a mechanism inside your body. The sources don’t establish a universal medical recommendation. If you have bowel, pelvic-floor, urinary, or pain conditions, or recent abdominal or hip surgery, treat it as a comfort aid and check with a clinician first.
Will a stool help with hemorrhoids or constipation?
Possibly, indirectly. Less straining and shorter time on the toilet are the two things hemorrhoid sufferers are usually told to aim for, and the study data points that way. Healthline’s clinician is more cautious, saying these devices “may help symptoms like constipation, bloating, and incomplete emptiness.” That’s a hedge worth respecting — it isn’t a cure.
References & Sources
- Healthline. “Science Says Toilet Footstools Really Can Improve the Way You Poop.” Source of the Ohio State study percentages and the clinician’s cautious benefit claim.
- Squatty Potty. Squatty Potty Official Site. Source of model specs, dimensions, weight limits, and prices.
- Verywell Health. “What Is a Squatty Potty?” Background on how toilet stools work and who they suit.
