Created on 22nd May 2009
Tried & Tested: Colonic Hydrotherapy
This issue, beauty editor Sarah Hedley finds out whether getting anal over your beauty regime can improve your health Colon hydrotherapy is the rinsing of the colon with warm water – sometimes with added herbal, coffee and probiotic solutions – to remove encrusted faecal matter, gas and mucus. “A weak and poorly functioning colon is a breeding ground for disease,” says Amanda Griggs of Balance, a London clinic specialising in colonic hydrotherapy. She adds, “The ideal transit time of food through the body is 18 to 24 hours, but due to out of shape colons it currently takes an average of 60 hours for men and 70 hours for women!” The UK is certainly the most constipated nation in the world, with 20,000 new cases of bowel cancer annually.
What is it good for?
Colonics are said to help clear the bowels and in doing so they can increase energy levels, aid detoxification, improve circulation, clear skin, regulate metabolism, improve digestion and relieve bloating.
What’s involved?
Prior to the treatment, I consulted my doctor about wanting to try hydrotherapy and my reasons for doing so – namely to cure constipation, clear my skin and get back into my skinny jeans. My doc argued that the treatment could wash away good, as well as bad, bacteria, but felt that a few treatments would be harmless, and may have some benefits. “The truth is washing out putrefied material in the large intestine increases the good intestinal flora,” says Amanda Griggs. “Good bacteria can only breed in a clean environment that has been washed free of putrefaction.”
On that note, me and my good bacteria were ready to go forth and multiply. I filled in a form on my medical history and eating habits, and was then asked to disrobe from the waist down and lie on my side. Once in position, my therapist inserted a lubricated tube into my behind. It wasn’t painful, just a little uncomfortable and embarrassing (I was relieved to be facing thewall). Then I lay on my back, and while my therapist massaged my torso and pressure points in my feet for 30 minutes or so, water from the tube filled my colon, which was then dispelled carrying the waste. Glamorous this treatment isn’t, but it’s surprisingly sanitised; there’s no smell or sounds, and you don’t see what’s flowing out (though type ‘colonic cleanse’ into Google Images if you’d like to get an idea – only don’t do it after a meal). The worst part is when the pipe leaves your posterior – the feeling is so akin to passing a ‘number two’ that you momentarily panic that you’ve done just that, right there on the therapist’s bed. Imagine!
Immediately after the treatment, I had to dash to the loo to ‘evacuate my bowels’ (therapist speak), then I was given my diagnosis.It wasn’t good. Because my colon had been sluggish for so long, it had been severely weakened, bathed in toxic waste, stretched and constricted by chronic tension. This overload of toxins resulted in a negative effect on other eliminative organs, including my skin – hence the spots I’d been prone to recently. A further two colonics were recommended over a two week period, and I was to avoid sugary foods, including fruit, for a week to minimise gas. Also cow products, fried food, wheat and yeast were off the menu; dry skin brushing, exercise and drinking two litres of water a day to stimulate the lymphatic system were recommended. In addition, I was given a course of herbal and probiotic supplements.
The results
After just one treatment my skin cleared up, my midriff bloat was
instantly reduced, my old black skinny jeans – which I’d grown out of – fit me again. I wouldn’t make colonics a monthly addition to my beauty regime, but an annual course of two or three colonics could be just what the doctor ordered.
Colon hydrotherapy: £80/60-minute session at Balance,
call: 020 7565 0333 or visit www.BalanceTheClinic.com
