Colonic therapy has become a common treatment suggested by the alternative physicians. Colonic or colon hydrotherapy is a physical treatment strategy, using which the colon is washed thoroughly by injecting water. In fact, colonic therapy is not a new treatment and historic evidences shows that it had been practiced in traditional medicines for long. In traditional medicine, it has been used as the usual preparatory therapy before any kind of treatment, irrespective of the nature of the illness. In some of the communities, it was practiced even as a part of their custom for maintaining good health. Dr. Elmer Lee introduced the practice of colonic therapy to USA in the late 1800s and it got popular with its effectiveness in the management of the cholera epidemic. Now, colonic therapy has become more popular as a treatment strategy among the modern people.

 

Colonic therapy can be simply addressed as the washing up of stomach, or more specifically as colon washing. Colon or large intestine has the function of absorption of water and minerals. The evidences show that flakes of the feces will deposit to the walls of the colon, when the feces will transverse the lengthy colon before it gets disposed through the rectum and anus. It will affect the proper absorption of the minerals, which may alter the proper functioning of the body and may lead to many diseases. The colonic therapy is focused to remove the deposited flakes and other debris to refresh the colon absorption and helps to keeps the person from getting any diseases or complicating the existing diseases.

 

Getting colonic is used as remedy for many diseases such as headache, chest pain, hypertension, arthritis, ADD, joint pains brittle hair, and psoriasis. The unsubstantiated benefits include avoidance of constipation due to peristaltic movement of the muscles, improvement in the colon functioning, relief of the gastrointestinal problems and expulsion of the unwanted parasites in the colon. Now, colonic therapy is appreciated prior before for a diagnostic enquiry of the colons or surgical invasions in the colon, as it helps to make it evident the condition of the colon, without any interference.

 

However many suspect that colonic irrigation may cause severe adverse effects and may cause many imbalances in the system. In general, the experts suggest that that the treatment is not effective for people with medical problems such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, hepatitis diverticulitis, severe or internal hemorrhoids or tumors in the rectum or colon and appendicitis. Strictly, the colonic therapy must not be used as a treatment in people after bowel surgery, heart disease or kidney disease.

 

The repeated treatments of colonic treatment is discouraged as it may absorb too much water, nausea, vomiting, heart failure, fluid in the lungs, leading to electrolyte imbalances in the blood, abnormal heart rhythms or coma. In such cases, colonic therapy may interfere in the system and may lead to the loss of the bowel’s natural ability to move contents. In certain cases, the critics have reported that colonic therapy may decrease the ability to contract and push waste from the body.  Moreover, the chances for infection are the most pronounced difficulty of the colonic treatment. The risk of bowel perforation and breakage of the bowel wall can be a potential risk of life. Many lives had been in risk due to the infection in the bowel from the colon treatment. Hence the instrument must be sterile and the practitioner must be experienced.

 

Getting colonic hence must be a personal choice that it has to be decided after a serious prior thought, balancing its merits and demerits in accordance with own health condition. It is always advisable to have a complete body check up under the guidance of an expert physician before the decision making. Getting colonic can be certainly beneficial, if it is done in an appropriate manner.