Irritable colon: is hydrotherapy effective?

Long forgotten, colonic irrigation is making a comeback. In France, this practice which simply consists of cleaning the colon in its entirety, is gaining ground. And beyond the borders, in Germany, Switzerland or the United States, it is gaining more and more followers.

Wellness gurus and other healthier lifestyle enthusiasts seem to swear by it. More so, they credit her with a whole bunch of profits. The first, one suspects, better digestion. But it doesn’t stop there! According to them, washing your colon regularly would also make it possible to fall ill less often, to have prettier skin and, overall, to be in better shape on a daily basis.

Problem: if this practice is gaining ground in France, it is also strongly criticized there by doctors who consider it if not dangerous, at least unfounded and completely useless.

Hydrotherapy: the arguments of the followers

Colon irrigation, or hydrotherapy, is deep colon cleansing. But concretely, what does that mean? question to which Dominique Depontnaturopath and hydrotherapy practitioner, answers: “It’s a gentle method, it’s a technique of detox, naturopathy and maintenance”.

Clearly, continues the therapist: “We are going to clean the colon by inserting water, via a cannula, into the rectum. It is this water, as well as the massages carried out in parallel, which will allow the colon to be emptied”. Result, she continues, at the end of the session the large intestine is clean : “We lighten the digestive system, we remove toxins whether it is stool or old microbiota, we stop inflammation…”.

In short: irrigation of the colon would be maintenance of intestinal hygiene. S the digestive system does not pose any problem then, it is advisable to do it only once a year. But, if, on the contrary, you suffer from bloating, diarrhea… you can use it a little more often for, as the specialist points out, “put the transit back on the road”.

But the problem, the doctors answer, is that it is in no way necessary or useful to come and purify the large intestine.

Hydrotherapy: criticism from detractors

As mentioned above, colon irrigation would, according to its advocates, help the colon to get rid of toxins. In other words, hydrotherapy would prevent auto-intoxication. But that’s the whole problem: according to the scientific community, auto-intoxication is an invention, a false problem that does not exist.

“You can’t talk about science when you talk about hydrotherapy. In the 19th century, engineers invented machines to automate colonic enemas. Problem: they didn’t sell. Thus, in the years that followed, a new concept was invented, that of self-poisoning and these same machines were brought up to date. But, It was just a purely commercial approach.”, remind thee doctor Philippe Godeberge, gastroenterologist.

In addition, continues the doctor, hydrotherapy, which is actually similar to the enemas that were used in the past, “is a medicine of the Middle Ages”. “In the past, it was believed that there were bad humors in the body and that they had to be drained either by bleeding or by enemas. Clyster or hydrotherapy are less aggressive than bloodletting, but it is the same level of scientific evidence”, decides the scientist.

Moreover, develops the gastroenterologist, “no scientific publication has validated the benefit of these techniques. And, what is more, they are based on a misunderstanding of anatomy. When you do an enema before a colonoscopy, the wall is niquel: yes, in the colon you will find stool, but that’s its function”.

You will therefore have understood that, on the side of doctors, the method is not very attractive. But, as scientifically unfounded as it is, if it is not dangerous, can it not sometimes relieve?

Hydrotherapy: the practice

The course of the sessions is quite simple: the first, longer than the others, is dedicated to an open discussion on the patient’s objectives, the reasons for his presence, his pain… and then, hydrotherapy; the next two sessions are entirely devoted to “care”. Why three sessions? Because the colon is made up of three parts, they are therefore cleaned one after the other over the course of the sessions. In addition, for someone who has never done hydrotherapy, it helps to revive the digestive system, to reset the counters.

Each hydrotherapy session -except the first one- lasts approximately 45 minutes. And the treatment is painless. Tout takes place lying on a massage table. It is this massage, added to water, which propels toxins, stools, mucus… out of the colon.

“SIf you really have digestive problems, hydrotherapy relieves, it’s not just having a bowel movement, it does a whole lot more good. And for good reason, she deflates”, says a patient who followed these sessions. MBut has she seen a long-term change? Here, on the other hand, the answer is: “no!”