The Electronic Bidet, Must-Have Bathroom Innovation For Newer American Homes

It had been a 29-hour journey.

I had flown from Austin to Memphis to Seattle and then to Osaka. Bad weather delayed our flights at every airpot. By the time I had gotten through customs and immigration, taken a hour-long cab ride into the city, and checked into my room, I was very ready to get some rest. First, however, I needed to make a visit to the bathroom.

Sitting down on the toilet was ordinary enough, but there was no toilet paper and no handle to turn to flush. Instead, there was a remote control, with a thick instruction manual in Japanese.

I can read some Japanese. I had no inkling, however, of the meanings of the characters used in the electronic bidet instructions. Not wanting to go bed with the toilet let unflushed or my bottom left unattended, I hit on the idea of just sitting back down, pushing buttons, and seeing what happened. First I felt something like sitting down on a vibrator. Then I felt a nice warm blow dryer. Then I felt a swoosh of warm water cleansing my nether regions, so I pressed the blow dryer key again. Eventually, I figured out how to flush. 

Of course, I could have called down to the front desk and I am sure they would have arranged for me to receive instructions, but the last thing I wanted to do was to receive step by step instructions through the bathroom door for bidet use in Japanese when I hadn't been in bed in a day and a half.

Electronic Bidets Aren't Just Japanese (or Korean) Any More

Toto toilets, like the one I encountered in my hotel room in Osaka, are found in 76 percent of Japanese homes. They are so popular in Japan that the Japanese government even defines lower incomes in terms of living in an apartment or house that does not have one.

Toto bathroom fixtures are available in the USA, but most American retailers sell Kohler. Electronic bidets used to be a rarity in American homes (the only one I had ever seen before 2010 was, oddly, in a farmhouse near Granger, Texas in the 1980's), but they are beginning to become a standard fixture in high-end housing all over North America. The reason electronic bidets have become so popular is that they are quite simply cleaner than using toilet paper.

If were to get covered mud, you would not want to blot it off with paper towels. You would want to shower. If you have lingering droplets of urine nor particles of feces, it is better to remove them with warm water followed by warm air to dry your nether regions. 

What Does An Electronic Bidet Do?

Every electronic bidet has at least two functions, wash and dry. Luxury features are reminescent of going to a day spa.

Some models of electronic bidets generate a strong current of warm air that gives you a sound and feel more than a little like driving your car through the dryer at the car wash. Some models remove fecal odor with catalytic converters, sucking them out of the toilet bowl. There are even models with motion sensors that activate the toilet as you come into the bathroom, so the surface of the bidet is moist and "ready to go."

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Installation of an electronic toilet is very simple. If the toilet is near an electrical outlet, the only tool that is needed is an adjustable wrench. No special plumbing skills are required.

What Are  The Benefits Of An Electronic Bidet?

An obvious benefit of a Toto washlet or an electronic bidet for American homeowners is not having to buy toilet tissue. There is never a worry of running out of it, and there is far less risk of the plumbing systerm's becoming clogged, too. The new electronic bidets replace the old-school, toilet-adjacent bidets that do not have dryer or odor removal functions.

A more important benefit of the electronic bidet, however, may be its impact on health. The electronic bidet can be operated so that it sprays the Anorectal region with warm water before defecation.

In chronically constipated people, the warm water is soothing, and it also stimulates bowel movement. People who have spinal cord injuries, who sometimes need as much as an hour to "go," often are able to complete bowel movements in ten minutes or less with the help of the spray from an electronic bidet. A study by the Toto company found that 75 percent of people who have spinal cord injuries find it easier to relieve themselves with the help of an electronic bidet.

One of the major issues in nursing home care is the inability of patients to perform personal hygiene after toileting. Electronic bidets allow the elderly to get clean without the indignity of having an attendant perform the cleansing. There is no toilet paper to get on the floor, no need to stand up for cleaning, and less risk of falls. Even better, studies have found that seniors in nursing home care get fewer bladder and urinary track infections when they use electronic bidets. This means fewer trips to the doctor, and also, usually, better mental health.

Is there any not to like about electronic bidets? Oddly, researchers at the  Toyama Hospital, International Medical Center of Japan, have found one problem with warm-water cleansing for women of reproductive age. Pre-menopausal women who use warm-water devices after urination tend to have lower counts of vaginal Lactobacillus. The Lactobacilli are friendly, probiotic bacteria that help keep vaginal yeast infections in check. The use of the warm-water spray seems to kill the "good" bacteria so that yeast infections are more common. Japanese scientists found that 42 percent of younger, female Toto toilet users had none of the needed Lactobacilli in their vaginal swabs, while only 8 percent of women who did not use Toto toilets lacked Lactobacilli. There is no definitive proof that the lack of the beneficial bacteria leads to actual vaginosis, however, just that it seems to upset the healthy bacteria.

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Electronic bidets are safe for use during pregnancy. Males can use them any time without complications. The very first time you use one of these devices may be awkward, but just be patient, and you will soon come to wonder how you ever got along without them.