Enemas...Mostly a USA Phenomenon?

In the times when Louis XIV reigned France (1638 - 1715), there was a big enema hype. Since the King himself took hundreds of enemas, also while important people were received in audience in his presence, court members did what their "CEO" did, an the court-ladies took regular enemas because they believed this would improve their skin.

@Brooklynne Thanks so much for sharing! I'm quite astounded to be honest that anyone in my generation, (I'm 35), received them at home, much less at school even the once. (Given that the conventional wisdom among the profession now is that they are a waste of time apparently.) Myself I would never have heard of them were it not for the internet.

I was just reading an article about colonic irrigation, which was apparently a common practice here up until the 1940s, and it rightly says we in Britain tend to clam up when discussing matters below the waste... or rather not discussing them haha.

Having read a book about girls' boarding schools I'm unsurprising to find no mention of them there for this reason alone, though as the period the book deals with is 39 to 79, perhaps its start date is just too late.

Anyway once again fascinating to hear that.

Here's a little batch of links I've found to a few vintage British enema items, mostly Higginson-type syringes I think and one can. I doubt there will be any surprises here but they might be interesting.

https://picclick.co.uk/Huge-Vintage-Enema-Syringe-Boots-the-Chemist-333530170520.html

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co94809/boots-improved-higginsons-enema-apparatus-enema-apparatus

https://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/collections/3136/objects/596102/boots-improved-enema-syringe

https://picclick.co.uk/Antique-Boots-Cash-Chemist-Enema-Syringe-and-Tin-303550238358.html

https://www.retonthenet.co.uk/htf-vintage-british-qb-tubular-brand-enamel-white--blue-wall-mounted-enema-1930s-hospital-irrigator-3770-p.asp

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co135305/ingrams-perfex-enema-in-original-box

https://www.eastriding.gov.uk/culture/museums/collections/detail.php?module=objects&type=browse&id=20&term=Ingram&kv=19698&record=2&page=1

Us humans have a natural urge to purge. As Near as I can tell , my research , which did not have to go deep to find that enemas, lavage, internal baths, irrigation are prevalent in most societies . Enemas are used as a method of alternative medicine folk remedies, ritual-religious-witchcraft or Voodoo, cure and prevention of disease and parasites, relaxation, sexual stimulation , punishment, relief of discomfort to name a few . Languages are all over the world map, as enemas are. If you think you invented or created something new and different, surprise!!!! it's been done already. One can't know all that happens around the world . But , it sure would be cool to know.

I'm from the the school of if feels good or for some reason you just like it , just do it. Enema's and the fetish lifestyle fall into that category. It is important that we share ideas ,experiences,likes and dislikes. This allows us to to build and create using our experiences and honing them with the knowledge of others.

I believe most important are the likes and dislikes of others. When playing with a partner we communicate with our hands and skills to please or perhaps show displeasure . This is a very personal and intimate procedure to be shared or enjoyed personally. Learned niceties and aesthetics make it memorable .

No, not at all! I was in Russia as recently as 2013, and I can speak conversational Russian what that matters, and I can attest that all pharmacies carry enema bags and bulbs and that any large pharmacy has perhaps as many as a dozen types of enema bags.

I know enemas were quite common in Argentina in the 50s, 60s and early 70s but not sure about today.

Back in the sixties you would see them in shop windows in harrow, but in the seventies they were gone. Remember my wife looking at one and saying, that's BIG and will take some taking?

I live in Germany and I have never heard of enemas outside proctology and fetish.

N.

Also at one time “popular”. (I use the term loosely) here in Australia & over in New Zealand

My travels through South East Asia revealed that they are still in use (and sold) to this day.

I would think that the timeline 1940--1973 was the U.S. “Golden Age” of enemas and most likely very similar in Europe and Canada-Australia/N.Zealand. Enema bags in those countries with France having a fixation with the enamel/porcelain enema can--perhaps “rubber” enema bags were too costly or difficult to obtain there there's a lot of those enema cans on the antique market..so quite a number were produced and used..

I can't speak for the UK. It might just be that it seems to be a US phenomenon because I'm guessing there are more US members even though it is an international site. I know it is still common in places like Russia and other Baltic states. It will also depend on the timeline as they are very much out of favor in the US right now. Not unheard of, but almost last resort.

My nieces husband was in India approximately twelve years ago on business and got constipated. I’m not sure of the complete circumstances, but he ended up in an Emergency Room and they were going to administer an enema. When he realized what was going to happen, he promptly refused and checked himself out. Once back in his Hotel, he called the airline and changed his reservations to the next available return flight to JFK an on to CLT. When he got home, he was so backed up, a laxative wouldn’t do the job and his wife had to give him a couple of two quart enemas. Needless to say, he wasn’t a happy camper. The following week when I ask, “why he returned earlier than expected?” She told me what happened an I laughed so hard it hurt. I’m one of only a couple of people that know what really happened, because she knew I’d understand, knowing my siblings history. Even now, when I think about it, I get a case of the giggles…

Personally I've never heard of anyone in the UK giving or receiving an enema. There was talk that back in the 60's and 70's women were given one in the labour ward before giving birth, that might well be true but if so the practice was discontinued by the beginning of the 1980's. Same with rectal temperatures I've never heard of anyone in the UK giving or receiving one of those either.

Mom was 4th Generation German, both of her parents were descended from German families that hailed from a German enclave in Eastern North Carolina. My paternal Grandmother's ancestors hailed from England, Ireland, Germany, France and Switzerland. Mom and both Grandmothers kept fountain syringes in their homes and used them regularly. My maternal Grandmother kept a boxed, sealed, new fountain syringe set in each of her guest bedrooms, clearly marked as to what they were and that they were there for the convenience of any guests. Over the years of visiting her, differing syringe boxes appeared so I assumed they were used by visitors.

Extremely doubtful that enemas were mostly a USA phenomenon, but glad I was born here and grew up in the 50's and 60's……definitely the golden age for me.

I was most surprised that anyone who had grown up in the UK in the fifties would have been unaware of enemas. I was twice administered them aged 9 by the district nurse for constipation and also heard from friends at that time of having had them administered in hospital. Looking through bathroom cupboards in those days on two occasions I came across apparatus, enamel irrigator hose and nozzle and a Higginson syringe. many domestic advice books of the 30's 40's and 50's recommended enemas as a treatment for constipation with full and detailed instructions on administration. I think maybe the UK and USA started to differ in the use of enemas at home after the introduction of the National Health Service in the UK granting free medical treatment and advice for all. No longer was the first resort to a home remedy, often an enema to save the expense of a visit to the doctor.

However the use of enemas in childbirth was still de riguer in the 60's, my wife having received them when in labour before the birth of my two daughters in 62 and 63 on both occasions being traditional soap and water ones.

Though now resorting to the small volume disposable variety UK hospitals are quick to use an enema after a couple of days without a BM on my last two stays in hospital I was administered both enemas and suppositories.

During the war years rubber was in short supply and I remember seeing a show on PBS showing the collection rubber goods for the WWII effort. What caught my eye was it showed rubber fountain syringes and tubing being turned in!

South Africa is a country of many cultures. In some of them, a religious leader will bless 5 or more litres of water, which is then taken home and administered with prayer as an enema. The Zionist churches do this. Yesterday I was in the largest discount pharmacy chain in the country, in a Durban suburban branch (Kwazulu-Natal). There were bulb syringes in all sizes up to 20 oz, and Jones cans with hoses and nozzles on open display. this branch caters to all cultures, needless to say. Perhaps we are not nuts over enemas, but neither do we shun them.

@Daniel1984 The TV series “call the midwife”, supposedly realistic about midwifery in 1950s England, depicts soapy enemas given to women about to give birth.

A few older British Zity users, I think, including @delia, mention receiving enemas from a Higginson syringe as kids. I think Delia was living in some colony, perhaps the way of life there was different from England itself.

I was wondering about something.

Enema bags and cans can also be used for vaginal douching. Douching was much more widespread in the US than in France, for instance.

Hello again, Pecan. Enemas were very much a German thing. I think we discussed my album post of the MINUTE HYGIENE system that connects to hot and cold plumbing in one's bathroom. Minute Hygiene was invented in Germany and patented the world over. The system featured both douche and 2 enema nozzles plus a washing (bidet?) device too. I'd guess you'd have to do an awful lot of enemas and / or douches to need a system that never runs out of water. Google “Nazi Enema” and a bunch of stuff comes up. I won't post links as I don't think that will support the erotic nature of Zity.biz.

South Africa is a country of many cultures. In some of them, a religious leader will bless 5 or more litres of water, which is then taken home and administered with prayer as an enema.

This takes the prize for wacko … not to be (too) irreverent, but is the water de-sanctified when expelled? After all, one doesn't just flush holy water down the toilet.

In my experience, here in Brazil, I NEVER heard enema word, or anything related to it, in my family or my circle of friends…….

And also never saw a bag to sell at drugstores.

Be safe

Za

I suppose that this one will depend of the concerned country in which manner the bowel cleansing will occur: Here in Germany people will take normally one of the laxatives containig Bisacodyl; in former times in Italy it has been normal to swallow in this case a good dose castor oil, but today they will gulp Dulcolax pills too. Finally I am astonished in which manner swallowing castor oil is usual in France even today.

@agracier

…not to be (too) irreverent, but is the water de-sanctified when expelled? After all, one doesn't just flush holy water down the toilet.

Great sense of humor - needed a laugh - thanks!

@vallee_2

“Minute Hygiene was invented in Germany…”

Not so. The Minute Hygiene was invented in Long Island City, NY.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ab/c9/b8/ef72d8c7878b60/US2707467.pdf

:jrw "many domestic advice books of the 30's 40's and 50's recommended enemas as a treatment for constipation with full and detailed instructions on administration."

You know, I've heard this so many times. Yet looking through electronic copies of old medical books... both American and British, from the period 1890 to 1951, I've hardly found any that enthusiastically advocate for enemas.

I have at least two household doctor books, and several home nursing manuals. Certainly I have found detailed instructions on giving them in those books, but usually alongside admonitions to only use them as a last resort. More than one specifically states that they should only be used on the instructions of a doctor.

Nothing could be more certain that in many households, especially in the US, they were used as a cure-all... a bit like my mum uses paracetamol today haha. And for ages the question has been rattling round my brain, just where were people getting the idea to do this from?

Of course my collection of books is hardly exhaustive, but I'm sure I do have more than a dozen spanning right across the period. So based on them the advice certainly wasn't orthodox as I had always been led to believe. Several people hear have said, "We had an old medical book in our house that recommended enemas for (insert list)". Sadly they can never remember the title... or if they can I can never find it to read digitally. (my only option as I'm print disabled.)

It is a strange thing about the UK and enemas, one or two people I've heard say they knew them to be common, yet compared to accounts from the US memories of receiving enemas from UK people I have found to be very few and far between. Perhaps we're still just more uptight, especially about admitting a fetish even anonymously.

@Pecan Nutjob Yes I've encountered Delia's posts/memories and several others. I can't determine any pattern, but it kind of seems to have depended where you lived in the UK, in that a few people say they remember them being commonplace, but many don't remember them at all… or at least don't talk about remembering them. Definite fact they were used pre-childbirth though.