I’d always been fascinated by the idea of having a colonic irrigation and I’m not really sure why. I guess it’s the idea of having all the bad stuff removed from your innards, even if that isn’t strictly necessary for a healthy digestive system.
Driven by curiosity, I decided to take the plunge and have a colonic just for the fun of it. I went to a beauty salon for mine and I filled in a questionnaire with information about my general health and diet.
When I went into the treatment room, the lady was very nice and asked me questions to put me at ease. The room has a toilet in the corner and you lie on the bed that is covered in tissue like a normal treatment.
The bit that everybody hates is when they insert the ‘nozzle’ into your bum so they can attach the pipe to it. I wasn’t that bothered about that as it is so brief and not painful. You then lie on your back and the machine pumps water into your bowels slowly. Once you’re full of water the tube empties you and takes your waste with it. You could watch it if you wanted to but I didn’t as I thought it was a bit weird.
Did you know? Rudimentary colonic irrigations were practised as early as 1500 B.C. by the Egyptians so the history is as long as the digestive system itself!
The woman chatted to me and she was really nice, she told me some people cry during a colonic as it is like an emotional ‘release’. I found it hard to tell if the water was going in or out and it felt like I was having diarrhoea – to put it very bluntly! It was also very hard to relax and allow everything to flow out.
The session is 45 minutes long but I’d had enough after about 30 minutes. The best part of the colonic is when the tube is taken out and you can go to the toilet on your own! Obviously its the not the most pleasant thing but it feels good to get all the water out.
The benefits of colonics are said to be weight loss and better skin almost other things. I didn’t really see any benefits and it was more about the experience for me.
If your gut is full of good bacteria part of me thinks that they would be washed away during the treatment along with the bad stuff. It would obviously work a treat if you were constipated though!
After I had the colonic I didn’t have a bowel movement for a few days but when I did it was normal. It was an interesting and slightly uncomfortable experience and I would probably only do it again if there was a definite health benefit or cultural purpose.