What You Should Know About Colon Therapy?

If Doctors say it doesn’t help, why does it? There are many studies that have shown Colon Hydrotherapy yields no evidence of treating various diseases, and there is just as much evidence proving harm from Colon Hydrotherapy. Colon Hydrotherapy cannot claim to be a cure for a disease, but the environment it creates in the colon is definitely capable of helping assist in healing and attainment of health check Farid Zarif ND for further details.

Are there any methods of therapy that could be misinterpreted as “Colon Hydrotherapy” that we currently use and that have harmful effects?

Yes. There are different ways that people attempt to cleanse their colon every day. Enemas and laxatives have been on the market for many years. Laxatives are habit-forming and dehydrating. Some laxatives contain chemicals that may cause an imbalance with our natural enzymes and hormones. Ingesting laxatives too frequently may cause the loss of peristalsis (the muscle contractions that move waste) and may force an individual to continue using laxatives to have bowel movements. Most laxatives are osmotic in some way, which means they draw water from surrounding areas in your body into the intestines to carry waste out. This is extremely dehydrating, causing more constipation unless fluids are replenished.

Enemas, like laxatives, should only be used occasionally and it is very important to be careful and follow directions. With enemas, there is a lack of control when it comes to the pressure of fluid intake. This can be damaging. Using enemas can stretch the last portion of the colon, the sigmoid to the rectum, and can cause problems with our natural ability to get rid of waste. I do believe enemas are useful and can be done correctly.

What’s the purpose of cleansing the colon?

The truth is, we have cleansed our colon since 1500 B.C. It was more common for royalty to be regularly given enemas. Physician’s back then had discovered that death starts in the colon and that food is the culprit. Our body needs to properly digest and balance intestinal bacteria in the digestive tract. Your colon can become out of balance because of lifestyle choices. Proper cleansing has been a goal of the human race for thousands of years.

What exactly is Colon Hydrotherapy?

Colon Hydrotherapy is a modernized version of the enema. The goal is the same, but it differs in that it is perfectly safe and reliable. In Colon Hydrotherapy, temperature-regulated water is introduced into the colon at an extremely low PSI. All of these settings are very controlled and precise. If you can imagine turning your sink on a little past the point of a drip, where the drops connect to form a slow and steady line, this can give you an idea of the water pressure in a colon hydrotherapy session. It is between 1/8 and 1/4 PSI on a “fill”.

The water slowly makes its way through the entire large intestine (About 5 feet). This whole time the intestine is being hydrated and toned. Stool that has been trapped can now loosen and make its way out. The client can let the therapist know when they are ready to empty. There is a gentle feeling of fullness that lets your body know when it’s ready to release. Then the therapist will set the device for removal. Water and waste is emptied out of a separate, larger waste tube using the pressure coming from your own body. No suction is used to empty the colon.

Many therapists practice this type of therapy in different ways. I was trained to use bodywork and massage. There are specific points on the body that can help release waste and improve the flow of energy through various organs as well as the colon. You might find a therapist out there that you don’t like. This shouldn’t make up your mind about Colon Hydrotherapy.

Since it is not a widely accepted therapy, there are bound to be times when someone does not have the proper training. If you went to get your nails done, and the manicurist cuts you and does a horrible job, do you swear off manicures as a dangerous and unhealthy practice? Probably not, the person you got must have been trained poorly or not suited for the job. Be smart about where you receive a colonic, and make sure they are checking for contra-indications like severe cardiac disease, cirrhosis, severe anemia, and severe diverticulitis to name a few.

How often is too much?

Since Colon Hydrotherapy hydrates and tones the walls of the intestine, it is safe for periodic use. It had been a steady passage from alternative to mainstream for colonic irrigation – but that could change after researchers have rubbished the treatment’s benefits, and cautioned about its side effects – including cramps, nausea, vomiting and renal failure.

The process, rebranded from the agricultural sounding colonic irrigation to less intrusive “colonic hydrotherapy”, has become less taboo over the last two decades, having become popular with celebrities desperate to lose weight.

During a normal 45-minute session, which currently costs between $122-$180, about 15.85 gallons of filtered water is used to flush the colon, after which users supposedly benefit from increased wellbeing, better skin, smoother bowel movements, and feeling lighter.

But a new, comprehensive review of research has chronicled the side effects suffered by some users of “the internal bath”, from cramping to renal failure – when the kidneys fail to adequately filter toxins and waste products from the blood.

Medics at Georgetown University School of Medicine, who examined 20 studies published in medical literature during the last decade, expressed concerns over the treatment’s regulation.

They concluded, in a paper published in the Journal of Family Practice, that while there was little evidence of the much-vaunted benefits from the treatment, there were “an abundance of studies noting side effects of using cleansing products including cramp, bloating, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte imbalance and renal failure”.

The same was true of other less intrusive colon treatments which can be widely purchased on the internet, they said. The paper’s lead author Ranit Mishori, a specialist in family medicine at Georgetown, said: “There can be serious consequences for those who engage in colon cleansing whether they have the procedure done at a spa or perform it at home.

“Colon cleansing products in the form of laxatives, teas, powders and capsules… tout benefits that don’t exist.” She added that some treatments had also been associated with aplastic anemia (where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells) and liver toxicity.

The doctors also expressed concerns colon cleansing services were being offered at some spas and clinics by operators claiming they are “colon hygienists” but who had little or no medical training. They concluded, in a paper published in the Journal of Family Practice, that while there was little evidence of the much-vaunted benefits from the treatment, there were “an abundance of studies noting side effects of using cleansing products including cramp, bloating, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte imbalance and renal failure”.

NHS advice states colonic irrigation is still a complementary therapy, and “there is currently no medical or scientific evidence to prove its effectiveness”. However, it says, the procedure is usually safe. As colonic treatments are mostly undertaken in private, statistics on the number of users are hard to establish.

Anecdotally, doctors have said patients admitted to hospital following colonic irrigation have been diagnosed with a perforated colon – obtained during the procedure caused the tip that injects the water or from overpressure causing failure of a weak spot in the colon wall.

Scottish surgeon Sir William Arbuthnot-Lane, who worked at Guy’s hospital in London, is credited with pioneering treatment for constipation in the early 1900s.His work led him to advocate eating fruit, vegetables and bran cereals as a way to control bowel problems.

His views were dismissed by doctors and media authorities at the time, leading him to ask to have his name removed from the medical register in order to promote the New Health Society, the first organized body to deal with social medicine, in 1925 to publicize his views on healthy diet and life.

Dr. Mishori added there were other ways to increase well-being. She said: “Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, get six to eight hours sleep and see a doctor.”