Doctors reveal the maximum amount of time you should spend on the toilet when you have a poo

Most people don't tend to time their toilet trips, however, you might want to look at your watch on the next occasion that nature calls.

Doctors have determined the 'appropriate' amount of time you should be spending on the loo when you go for a number two - and warned that lingering for too long can lead to some 'painful' consequences.

So, you might want to set a stopwatch off next time you nip to the toilet, to see if you're speedy enough when it comes to dropping a deuce.

Although defecating isn't the most enticing subject to discuss, it's something that everyone on the planet does and it can tell us a lot about what's going on inside our bodies.

For example, a doctor recently revealed why some people suddenly have a strong desire to go immediately after eating, while another explained how the appearance of your poo can indicate you might have a health problem.

If you take that advice and find yourself staring down the sh**ter for ten minutes analysing what your excrement looks like, you're obviously going to be longer than usual in the bathroom.

Health experts have revealed how long you should be spending on the toilet (Getty Stock Image)

Which is all well and good, as long as you're not actually sat on the throne for this length of time.

Health experts say you should spend just a few minutes on the loo, while the NHS says should not 'spend endless time on the toilet straining'.

According to Dr Melissa Hershman, 'an appropriate time to spend on the toilet is no more than three minutes at a time'.

The assistant professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Sciences University told the Huff Post you really shouldn't be spending all day in there, as it is supposed to be quite a quick process.

A gastroenterologist at Houston Methodist Hospital offered us a bit more wriggle room though, as Dr Valentine Millien reckons somewhere around the five minute mark is ideal.

"Really, after five minutes, and nothing is happening, we usually tell patients to leave and then wait again to get the urge, and then come back to the bathroom," she said.

Don't set up camp in your bathroom, as it should only take a few minutes for you to go Getty Stock Image)

Nurse practitioner Leslie Waid offered some advice to those who find pooping takes a long time, as she explained: "You should sit down, you should easily pass a bowel movement, feel empty, you get cleaned up and you leave.

"There shouldn’t be any straining or spending time sitting there waiting for stools to pass.

She pointed out that straining can cause pelvic trauma, haemorrhoids and other unfortunate issues - ' including anal fissures, and those are tears in the lining of the anal canal, and they can be very painful'.

Dr Millien suggested squatting if your struggling to evacuate your bowels, as when you do this, 'you’re removing some of that pressure of the rectum, and actually allowing gravity to help you' poop.

Waid went on to urge people to make sure they've got a good amount of fibre in their diets to make their toilet trips easier.

Dr Hershman also advised exercising often, as she added: "I often tell patients that your gut doesn’t move if you don’t."

So next time someone's been laying an egg for a bit too long, hammer that door down people - as you're doing them a favour.