“Death lies in the bowel” is a true saying of the famous physician Metschnikow. With a special device, the bowel can be freed of its old waste deposits and faecal residues, and the intestinal flora and digestive function can be optimised. The effect is noticeable immediately in an increased sense of well-being.

Bowel washing was first mentioned in 1500 BC in the ancient Egyptian document “Ebers Papyrus”. Hippocrates (4th century BC) described the use of the enema as a therapy for fever. Below is an African woodcut in which the mother is giving the infant a blown enema.

Colon hydrotherapy (CHT), as we use it today, is a method of bowel cleansing and restoration that was developed and successfully tried and tested in the United States. With it we are also able to influence effectively so-called “dysbiosis”, a disturbance of the natural community between human beings and their intestinal bacterial flora.

This is of eminent importance, because the intestinal bacteria, whose weight in the bowel can easily reach 3 kg, display an enormous metabolic output (equivalent to that of our liver!) and make up about a third of the stool. Prof. Perger in Vienna found in his microbiological investigations that only about 3% of the population has a truly normal intestinal flora. The cause often lies in a faulty diet, environmental pollution, long-term antibiotic therapies and more. As the bowel is an important authority of the immune system (80% of it is located in the wall of the small and large intestine!), the body’s defences flag in the longer term. After all, the mucous membranes are in direct contact with food (= the environment!) and protect us on the inside, as our skin does on the outside, from damage and infections. The skin, though, is of course always kept clean.... As a consequence of dysbiosis, with an accumulation of toxins, waste deposits and foul-smelling gases, the most varied symptoms can occur.

Symptoms as a consequence or cause of bowel disorders

Loss of appetite
Tiredness
Depression
Poor concentration
Aggressiveness
Infections
Inflammation (especially of the frontal and paranasal sinuses)
Asthma
Rheumatism
Acne
Psoriasis
High blood pressure
Migräne
Allergies
Colitis
Diverticulitis
Bowel cancer

Large parts of the population of our civilised world suffer from constipation (obstipation), or from a slowing of intestinal transit: there is a bowel movement every day, but the bowel contents are emptied not within the desired 24 to 36 hours after eating but only after 2 to 3 (or even 7!) days: “blueberry and beetroot test”. In constipation, the bowel has ceased its normal activity as a result of years of faulty diet, lack of exercise and so on. Waste deposits, crusts and hardened substances in the pouches of the bowel prevent the normal rhythmic, worm-like movement of the bowel (peristalsis) and thus the onward transport of its contents. The stool only thickens further, and more and more pressure has to be applied to move it on. The bowel lengthens, its capacity increases, and it becomes a “slack sack” (atonic phase according to F.X. Mayr). Only ever stronger laxatives, with their destructive effect on the intestinal mucosa, still bring some degree of relief.

“A healthy bowel forms the basis for a healthy body”.

The most important measures

Cleansing of the bowel (CHT)
Bowel training (CHT)
Mayr cure
Renewal of the intestinal flora
Change of diet
Sufficient exercise (sport)

The treatment

CHT effectively removes accumulated stool, putrefactive substances and bacterial toxins from the large intestine. The biological functions of the bowel are improved and the burden of toxic waste products is minimised. With this natural cleansing process, symptoms that are connected either directly or indirectly with the malfunction of the bowel are eliminated.

Procedure

The patient lies comfortably on their back. Through a small plastic tube, water at varying temperatures (18° to 40°C, alternating bath / Kneipp) flows into the bowel. The water, with the dissolved bowel contents, is drained away through a closed system. With a special massage of the abdominal wall, the areas that are still hardened can be felt and the inflowing water can be directed precisely into that region.

CHT thereby makes possible a cleansing and restoration of the large intestine more intensive and thorough than was previously possible. The dissolving effect of the water and the simultaneous warm and cool stimulation of the bowel cause it to start working again and to move on the accumulated and stagnant bowel contents by itself. At the same time, the supply of oxygen-laden blood to the bowel is increased, which improves the bowel’s metabolism at the cellular level. The additional use of oxygen also has a favourable influence on the dysbiosis. Oxygen, a true disinfecting agent, is incidentally also used for the treatment of raw waste. In nature, rivers are constantly cleansed by taking up oxygen from the air.

Preparation

For CHT it is advisable not to drink coffee in the morning and not to arrive with a “full stomach”. That state hinders the rinsing process and the massage. A laxative does not have to be taken beforehand, but may be useful as part of certain dietary cures, for example the Mayr cure (Carlsbad salt). Try to have one more bowel movement before the CHT.

Side effects

During CHT, a feeling of pressure may occur in the stomach/bowel area, possibly accompanied by cramps, which are usually mild. After the cleansing (usually on the following day), however, one generally feels considerably relieved and well. In extreme constipation it can happen that afterwards, once old stool has started to move, longer and more intense cramps occur.

Possible unpleasant accompanying effects (odours, leakage of bowel water) are reduced to a minimum with this therapy and effectively defused by special devices. After the therapy it is advisable to sit on the toilet for a few more minutes and/or to walk up and down a little until you are sure that you have emptied your bowel sufficiently for the journey home.

Accompanying measures

A general change to a reduced protein intake in favour of a lacto-vegetarian diet is an advantage, so that putrefactive processes are delayed or prevented altogether.

Symbiosis control is also important: at the same time you receive preparations that help to restore the normal intestinal flora, because this, too, is “flushed out” by CHT.

Why not simply laxatives??

Laxatives are chemical irritants that stimulate the muscular walls of the large intestine to excrete the irritating substances (the laxatives) through increased contractions. Habituation occurs quickly. This can destroy for ever the colon’s ability to empty itself. Certain laxatives disturb important digestive processes in the stomach and small intestine and can lead to a loss of salt and fluid. CHT, by contrast, cleanses from below without impairing digestion higher up.

Indications for CHT

Constipation, diarrhoea, sluggish bowel, flatulence, haemorrhoids, acute faecal impaction, colitis, parasites, diverticulosis, Crohn’s disease, colostomy cleansing, irritable bowel, general prevention and purification, bowel training in paraplegia, preparation for colonoscopy and other examinations that require an empty bowel (see also above).

Contraindications

Severe heart disease, hypertension, dilated blood vessels, anaemia, intestinal bleeding, severe haemorrhoids, after bowel operations, pronounced diverticulosis

Colon hydrotherapy is an important accompanying therapy within the patient’s overall preventive healthcare. Cleaning and rinsing the mouth regularly is something we take for granted. Why should that not apply to the other end of the digestive tract?