RE: Curt2299 "There was no doubt in my mind that my mother enjoyed giving enemas, although she concealed it pretty well. It was also quite obvious to me that she enjoyed my crying and pleading when the cramps began. She always hung the bag way too high for a gentle enema. I'm not sure she even knew it could hurt less.
It seems to me that one of the primary reasons enemas have fallen out of favor is the pleasure that both givers and receivers get from what is supposed to be therapy. People like me get re-wired to enjoy enemas sexually. The majority think of that as child molestation. Even though it's never mentioned, I think it's the big reason for the disfavor in the medical community."
Thanks for posting that above, Curt2299. I work in the medical industry. I say "industry" because that is what it is, an industry. I was thinking about this today in fact. I think enemas have fallen from favor because they do not produce much profit for big pharma. Think about it. Where is there more recurring profit? From selling a single enema bag which will last for years or by selling all manner of laxatives, suppositories, drinks and the like? It's always about profit. The medical industry, the medical machine is always seeking to guarantee a revenue stream (nice pun, eh?) and advocating enemas do not fit the bill. I don't particularly think medical staff is knowingly supporting an anti-enema culture these days. I tend to blame big pharma on this issue.
Case on point: I have a friend who is about 15 years younger than me. She has 3 kids and 2 of them, in particular, are constantly constipated. It's crazy. It doesn't help that they eat like crap and she doesn't enforce any sort of rules on their diets or anything else because she is in favor of a style of parenting called something like "natural consequences" or some such thing, wherein a kid is allowed to basically do whatever they want and the parents just allow natural consequences to hopefully push them in the right direction. One of these kids literally only eats 3 things: milk, bananas and chicken fingers. Now, I ask you, is that not a guaranteed RX for chronic constipation? Yet, she would never dream of giving these girls an enema, not even a small commercially prepared one like a Fleet. I have no idea why. Instead, she plays the "please drink/take this" game. She mixes Miralax into their milk secretly (they refuse to knowingly take medicine, it seems).. Or tries to bribe them to take a laxative pill with cookies, etc. I'm not their parent, so I try to withhold judgment, but if they were my kids it would be bottoms up and the syringe for the both them. Of course, I'm kind of a no-nonsense person when it comes to things that seem like common sense to me. I think the pediatrician should suggest an enema but he is a young guy, too, and just keeps telling her to slip them the Miralax on the sly.
It seems to me like she isn't doing them any favors by avoiding an enema because the younger kid has gone in for all sorts of tests due to the constipation, a colonoscopy, a barium enema, endoscopy, etc. Yet, she won't consider a simple syringe. I don't think it's because she's lazy or finds it a distasteful concept. She has just been conditioned to continue buying the laxatives, etc. Maybe she thinks it's easier or gentler. Who knows, but I'm always suspecting a conspiracy at play regardless of the topic.
I should confess that I might be a tad cynical!