Colon tube vs. Nozzle

OHN has a colon tube on sale and I would like to get some advice before buying it. Does a tube feel better going in than a nozzle? What are the advantages of a colon tube? What is your preference and why? Thanks in advance for your help.

A colon tube feels kind of like a nozzle that keeps going in and in and in. You can feel it snaking around your colon through your abdominal wall.

It offers absolutely no advantage in cleansing other then the fun factor during its insertion. The water always goes up higher then the tube or nozzle, in fact, you should be partially cleaned out before trying to insert a tube very deep.

I like big fat stiff colon tubes, but most people here like more moderate ones that are soft and flexible.

I have posted on this topic numerous times before. Just do a search for my posts on colon tubes.

One trick with colon tubes is to use a lube like olive oil. water based lubes will wash off the tube before you get it inserted far inside. the good thing about a colon tube is that it puts water deep inside if inserted well inside you where it washes things out with the water applied deep inside. an enema only pushes water up from the bottom. don't ever push a colon tube inside where you feel any pain, doing so could cause damage.

Nozzles require less skills to use than colon tubes. The risk for colon puncture is reduced drastically. colon tube requires the utmost skills to use it properly.

My wife is a nurse and she won't have anything to do with a colon tube. She only uses smooth delrin nozzles or the larger diameter nozzles used with hospital bowel prep kits. In either case, she has never inserted a nozzle into me further than the 5" maximum recommended depth they learned in nursing school. She said anything much further than this is really defeating the purpose. She also said colon tubes are notorious for binding over in the bowel and causing perforations.

When she's giving me an enema, the 1" thickness of the delrin makes 5" feel like a very deep insertion....sometimes I'm like Whoa! that's far enough. You definately know it's up there.

Everyone is talking about how much skill is required and I have to agree but squiring this skill is simple.

1. You need a relatively clean rectum just past the sigmoid. Flush out with a bulb or regular nozzle using about a quart per fill. Do this twice and even three times if you feels you have to.

2. When you're ready to use the colon tube insert it VERY slowly. The instant you meet resistance STOP and open the flow for a second to create a buffer between the tip and your intestinal walls. Stop the flow and try slowly moving the tube around and even in and out a bit until it feels lik you're past the blockage. I have to add here that you need to be 100% sure that the blockage is something you can get around and not a corner in your intestine where there is a turn i.e. Where the sigmoid meets the descending colon. Every time your I sertion is met with any type of resistance you MUST stop and gently work your way around it. People who are rough often end up in the hospital with a perforrated colon NOT GOOD!

Lastly, use lots of lube

Good luck

Neither is better. It's for a different experience. All good points above, but no one has mentioned how good it feels for a deep tube to be slowly pulled out.

I have found that the FR32 30" silicone colon tube goes around those bends quite easily. It doesn't poke like all but the small rubber ones. You can also use Vaseline as a lubricant. After using it, I got rid of my collection of rubber colon tubes.

Owen,

Thanks for your helpful comments. After some few unsuccessful attempts to insert my 32 Fr tube, and reading the many helpful posts, yesterday I made another attempt after a first 4 qt soapy cleanout. Not successful. :'( I used some vegetable oil, and had a surge pump attached, laid down in the tub, and started to insert. When I hit the bend at the Sigmoid, I pumped, gently pushed, pumped and pushed, but it would not go around the reverse bend and into the decending colon. Am I just built to curvey(?) for a colon tube?

Any comments for "rounding the bend" will be greatly appreciated.