How many times a day do you sit on the throne? Obviously for women, it’s a lot more than the guys. Getting up from the toilet is not much different than getting up from a squat and you already know how I feel about squats.
A couple of years ago I switched out every toilet in my house for the elevated toilet seats. In my house we’re all tall so it made sense to do it. If you already have issues with your knee caps, this is going to have a healing effect. If you don’t already have a problem with them, it’s just going to reduce the lifelong stresses you place on that crummy little bone with its crummy little cartilage.
This is a shout out to all builders, who should just start using comfort height or handicap toilets as standard equipment. Why not? The only people who might be bothered by tall toilets are really short people, and they can put little step stools by the toilet on which to rest their little feet (see above example). We tall people can’t do a thing about a short toilet seat and average height people will do just fine with them.
So think about changing at least one toilet in your house; the one you use the most.
Kids, if your parents come to visit and take care of your kids every once in awhile, do them a big favor. Put an elevated toilet in your guest bathroom.
This simple change is really high on the benefit/risk ratio. High benefit because of its preventive effect on the lousy kneecaps we were given. High benefit because over a lifetime it might result in some reduction in the number of visits people make to orthopedic surgeons. Low risk; minimal cost and only uncomfortable to really, really short people…
What can you do with the old toilet seats? Never miss an opportunity to decorate or recycle.