Have you ever had a ‘ghost poop’? This is what it really means when you feel like you’ve gone to the toilet, but then can’t find any evidence of it on the toilet or on the toilet paper.
From sex secrets to toilet habits, people aren’t shy about posting brazenly honest and fiercely personal confessions on TikTok.
Recently, a slew of content creators have been talking about what they call “ghost poops” on the video streaming app, which basically happens when you pass a bowel movement but don’t see any residue of it on the toilet paper when you wipe.
Others used the term to describe an instance where they felt like they had gone to the toilet but found nothing in the toilet.
Hundreds of people have admitted to experiencing the bizarre phenomenon under the hashtag #Ghostpoop on TikTok – and now medical professionals have spoken out about what it really means and why it’s happening to people. Today show.
Have you ever had a ‘ghost poop’? This is what it really means when you feel like you’ve gone to the toilet, but then can’t find any evidence of it in the toilet or on the toilet paper
Recently, a slew of content creators started talking about what they call “ghost poops” on TikTok, which is when you pass a bowel movement but don’t see any residue of it on the toilet paper.
Dr. Rabia De Latour, gastroenterologist at NYU Langone Health, and Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, a gastroenterologist and professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, told the publication that ghost poop is actually completely normal — and more common than you might think.
They explained that a number of different things could be the cause. The first is that your stool is so ‘well-formed’ and ‘firm’ that there is nothing left on your bottom that needs to be wiped off.
‘The texture of the stool and how much you need to wipe can depend on a few factors: fiber intake, gut health, the amount of water and other nutrients absorbed from the stool into the colon, and how well the anal sphincters are functioning,’ added the exhaust.
As for why some might not see anything in the box, they said it’s probably because the poop was extremely “dense” and “went straight down the toilet.”
Both women stressed that it’s nothing to worry about if it happens to you, stressing that it’s actually “completely normal” and a sign of “very healthy bowel movements.”
Another reason may be that you think you have passed stool, but in reality you have only passed some gas.
“The sphincter muscles are stimulated and you pass something, but it’s only air,” said Dr. Felice.
The doctors added that if you often feel like you need to poop but nothing comes out, it could be a sign of an underlying problem, and you should probably talk to your doctor.
Now, a slew of medical professionals have spoken out about what it really means and why it’s happening on the Today show, including Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman (seen)
She and Dr. Rabia De Latour (seen) told the publication that ghost poop is actually completely normal – and more common than you might think
They explained that a number of different things could be the cause. The first is that your stool is so ‘well-formed’ and ‘firm’ that there is nothing left on your bottom that needs to be wiped off. Dr. Felice is seen
The Today show reported that they could be early symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, colorectal polyps or anal cancer.
In 2021, an influencer named MrPelz on TikTok posted a video about ghost poops and it quickly went viral.
“When you wipe after a while,” he wrote alongside a video of him sitting on the toilet and wiping his bottom.
He then looked at the toilet paper and noticed that it looked clean, and added, “But there’s nothing there…”
The 11-second clip then cut to him floating into the air like a ghost.
“I had fun making these,” he captioned the TikTok, along with the hashtags #Ghostpoop and #Ghostwipe, among others.
His video was viewed more than 372,000 times and received 4,600 comments, with many people rushing to the comments section to admit that something similar had happened to them.
Many others have since posted videos on the subject. One man named Brad has one TikTok which showed that he sat on the toilet, wiped and saw no residue on the toilet paper.
Many others have posted videos on the subject online. One man named Brad uploaded a TikTok showing him wiping on the toilet and seeing no residue on the toilet paper
Another man named Sicko shared a video of him experiencing his “first ghost poop.” The song What Does It Mean played in the background as he played for the toilet paper
A woman named Paige bravely announced in a TikTok of her own, “Yeah, sex is cool, but y’all ever took a big shit and you have to wipe and there’s nothing to wipe? I love that shit’
He ended the video in front of a green screen that looked like heaven.
A woman named Samantha shared a similar video, writing, “When you come home after a long day and make a huge mess. This is the moment you’ve been dreading… But wait, ghost shit.
Another man named Sicko shared a video of him experiencing his “first ghost poop.”
Miley Cyrus’ song What Does It Mean played in the background as he stared at the clean-looking toilet paper with a shocked expression.
A woman named Paige boldly announced this in a TikTok from her own: ‘I’m going to say it… Yeah, sex is cool, but y’all ever took a big shit and you have to wipe and there’s nothing to wipe?
“It was a ghost shit! I love that stuff. When that happens to me, it makes my whole day.”
