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Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 11:59 am: | |
Hi,
I had a question regarding colonics as part of the detoxification process. I live in NY and they are very expensive here. So my question is are they useful and if so is there a difference between going to a therapist and using a home unit? I greatly appreciate your willingness to share information, the website is informative without being too confusing.
Thank you, |
Ingrid
| | Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 01:35 am: | |
Yes, this is a fair question, but opinions are obviously quite divided. There are several parts to your exploration.
First, basically, there is no way that you could give yourself a colonic. Home use products/devices consist of something called colema boards or simple enemas. Colema boards work on the principle of gravity and are hence considerably safer than colonic equipment, but they also require some investment and sometimes modification of your bathroom in order to position what you need where you need it. As the name suggests, they are between a colonic and enema.
Western natural medicine is somewhat obsessed with purification and elimination and generally of the school that fairly radical cleansing of the colon is good.
Eastern medicine is a little less zealous here, even holding to the view that retention of a certain amount of "earth" is grounding and therefore important to stability.
My own position is somewhere in between. I feel that we were designed to introduce things into the body via the mouth and eliminate them on the other end. Therefore, unless truly necessary, I prefer not to resort to colonics.
So, what makes a colonic "necessary?"
If an individual is absolutely unable to get results through sensible dietary changes and supplements, blockage is likely to become fatal. I know two individuals who went four-eight months without a single bowel movement before succumbing to major illness, death in one instance; however, this person did see colonic therapists during the last days of her life. The one therapist told me she was afraid of tearing the tissue in the colon and had to be extra gentle.
Others see colonic therapists and often feel a giddy sort of high afterwards, obviously relieved of toxicity and congestion.
I know people who had not had a natural bowel movement in decades who had them immediately and regularly as soon as they modified their diets. Eating spicy food, avoiding junk food and microwave ovens for cooking, and adding roughage to the diet are all important. Others eventually found herbal supplements that work. Good as some of the products are, none of them work perfectly for everyone.
There are many causes for blockage, some potentially serious. For instance, while too much refined flour and sugar may be the cause of much constipation, parasites could be the cause of some conditions. I know a number of colonic therapists who have reported removal of everything from jerky-like old material to bundles of worms. If a colonic can clear this much garbage without resorting to potentially toxic drugs, then there is a lot to be said for judicious use of them.
As for cost, I don't know what the going rate is, but you might contact a massage school and find out if they have free clinics where students can practice under supervision of their teachers. |
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