Mention colonic irrigation and you can sense the apprehension that many people have for this subject. Mental images of enemas, scary looking tubes, hot water bottles suspended from the ceiling, smells and strange gurgling noises prevent many people from exploring this therapy further but, just for a moment, I’d like you to put all your preconceived ideas to one side and allow me to put your mind at ease and introduce you to a fabulous therapy for maintaining well-being.

My name is Sarah Caselton and I am in the preventative health business. I believe that prevention is always better than cure, it’s about educating people in how to maintain  their health and well-being. I’ve recently opened a Colon Hydrotherapy Clinic, with my partner John, in Poole and I think you’d be surprised at how popular this therapy is and why people choose it.

So, why would anyone want to have a ‘colonic’ ? Why does anybody service their car? To clean and remove unwanted debris and help to keep the engine running smoothly.

Colonic irrigation has been around for a long time with the earliest record being in ancient Egypt around 1400 BC. The ancient Egyptians were master physicians. They were practising brain surgery long before anyone else and they were also into cleansing and detoxing their colons.

Historically, colonic irrigation  can also be found a little nearer to home with King Louis XIV of France, the legendary Sun God, who apparently conducted his court whilst having colonics performed on him by his physicians!

And this royal approval continued with our own Lady Diana who, we are told, had colonic cleansing up to three times a week to maintain her figure.

So, why is this therapy useful to our well-being ? Well,the colon is about 6ft long and crammed into a small space. This is the last stop in the intestinal tract, where all the food we eat is processed, and this is where fermentation takes place and the final squeezing and reabsorption of fluids and nuitrients - some good, some bad. (That’s why its important to drink plenty of water, otherwise it can get gassy and dry down there.) This excess is reabsorbed  through the colon back into the blood and lymphatic circulatory systems. The slower and longer the digestive process, the more toxins are inadvertently reabsorbed. This is called auto-intoxification. From a lazy colon comes problems such as constipation.

Also involved in this process is our liver, which is like a great big larder-processing plant, breaking down and storing substances : vitamins, fats, sugars and toxins, such as alcohol. What it can't cope with is stored in fatty tissues. This is how the body protects itself. Colon Hydrotherapy gives the body a chance to not only cleanse the colon but also flush out toxins from the cells and the fatty tissues.

My partner and I had our first experience of a ‘colonic’ a few years ago. We were a little apprehensive but sure that this was a probably a sensible thing to do considering how much rubbish (sweets, refined foods, alcohol,etc) we had consumed in our lifetime. The old adage sprang to mind : 'what goes in, must come out !'. And this is true for our bodies. Often toxins manifest themselves in the form of  intestinal disturbances, allergies, skin conditions and headaches.

We were fortunate to have our first colonic using a device called a Libbe. It’s the system we use in our clinic and that we consider more user-friendly  and less invasive than the traditional closed system.  The rectal tube is the diameter of a pencil and you insert it yourself, so nobody poking things up your bottom!!

After this experience, I can only report that we came away saying ' Wow! Why didn't we do this years ago?’ And we were already planning the next session. I felt cleansed, slim, emptied out and my partner felt the same. Suddenly my body felt like a sacred vessel. Watching old fecal debris, bits of mucus suspended in milky white lymph, and an orange river flush down the view tube as my liver and gallbladder released toxins, was quite an eye-opener. I realised what an amazing thing the human body is and perhaps I should be taking better care of mine.

I now have colonics on a regular basis and feel more energised, clear-headed and less tired in the evenings. I used to suffer from psoriasis of the scalp but this is now a thing of the past. Also, my partner's habitual fungal infections have disappeared.

©  Sarah Caselton 2008