Research about enemas in medicine

All: I know that this site is about the use of enemas for pleasure. But I have wondered about the days when enemas were given by hospitals, doctors, nurses, mothers, high school athletic coaches, and were widespread. (I received them at home, at summer camp, in the hospital, and at my college health center for medical reasons...I shared them with friends for pleasure, but that is another story!)

When I was a child, MD's gave enemas as a part of rountine healthcare (this was in the 1960's and early 1970's)

At some point, they abruptly stopped.

Surely there was some evidence of the effectiveness of enemas to treat and maintain health (since MD's are very big on research.)

Does anyone here who might be a doctor, nurse, or researcher have any interest or information about information proving that enemas are medically helpful?

Thanks you!

Modern medical practice has a large cultural component. In the past, enemas were widely used as part of medical care. They provide a major change in a person's sensation, possible health benefits, and give the person a sense of having done something, which motivates the person's self-healing energies. (Mobilization of the powerful placebo effect is not a joke or a fraud. It is a major component of most medical treatment.)

Today's medicine emphasizes billable procedures. There is no money for drug companies or diagnostic laboratories in enemas, so that part of the medical care culture is being abandoned. Today people get medication (to which a small percentage react allergically and die) for many minor conditions that an enema might have been prescribed for in the past.

Go figure. I suggest you consider all medical care recommendations from an adversarial point of view. Get at least two lab tests before pulling the trigger on a serious medical procedure, consider the veracity of the diagnostic procedures, and investigate alternatives.

Here are a couple of links that show how contentious the field is.

http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.194/news_detail.asp

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html

I have found gads of great material in Google Books. Much of it is from the early 1900's.

I think one other reason that enemas have pretty much been dropped from the medical tool box is the chance of charges of sexual misconduct.

Curiosity: In Hungary for example the enema was (is) known as an awful procedure: All pregnant women are given it before delivery. An of course from a nurse who is giving it clinically. I have read a lot of articles about it from women and almost everyone said it is a terrible experience during childbirth. It is understandable in those situations: There are natural cramps with childbirth and then they are given some extra cramps from the administration of an enema... They have to run to the toilet and often have "accidents" before they arrive at the toilet...

And there is no label at the hospital's entrance: Enter only for masochists!!!

But there are changes in the last few years and now there are many hospitals where the enema is not used before birth.

So, There is no cushy time here to have some positive connection with the enema - Particularly when it is associated with D/S...

As I know the supposition of the enema is very different in East European countries, leastwise in Hungary there is.

Nowadays I can find forums in Hungarian language about enema lovers, but the majority of people are very intolerant of them.

Enemas are still used in the hospital setting although less than 20-30 years ago. On occasion, patients with prolonged bed rest due to orthopedic issues for example migh need a dulcolax, fleets or sse. We try to make sure that the bowels keep working but pain meds and immobility get in the way. I have worked in places where MD's wrote for laxative or enema of choice (was the patients, not the nurse) and had patients choose the real enema. With advances in medical treatment, most people are in and out of the hospital in about 4 days but we still make sure everything is working. 20-30 years everyone got a SS enema the evening before surgery even if you were having surgery on a arm or leg. You got one 3 days later and every 3-4 days if the bowels did not move.

Believe it or not, I was in the hospital at age 3, so I can't remember anything of it. But I know, of course, that the enemas are still used in the hospitals.

But here the enema is known principally as I wrote above. Most of women get their first enema in the worst situation, and therefore many of them don't want to hear about it ever again.

Also now when people can hear of this type of procedure for good health they turn shy or say it's harmful and nasty thinking.

I'm not aware of it being used by my grandparents. there is no enema tradition in our country.

As I have written about this before I will be bief bu basically, when dugs such as morphine are needed, EVERYONE will becooome constipated unless treated with laxatives or enemas etc.so they are extremely important in the care of certain groups of patients

Coffee enemas are a staple of one of the Cancer researcher's recommendations...

While this may or may not be effective for Cancer prevention, my personal suspicion is that regular use of enemas can help with maintaining colon health; and might have prevented my wife's diverticulosis. I know I don't have it, and I hope to avoid it, and if enemas can help avoid it, yet another argument to use them regularly, or more often...

She was in incredible pain with her diverticulitis...

Cos.

Although this isn't research, I will tell you this: there are those who believe that there are no toxins or rotting "build up" in the colon, and because of this enemas (and other colon cleansing treatments) are pointless. Well, I disagree, and here's why: although I like enemas, I am not an enema abuser, and only take them for a thorough clean-out 2-3 times a year, and don't use them otherwise (I very seldom get constipated, and I really believe that is partly due to these occasional cleanings). I just took my most recent one last Sunday--first one since June, I believe--and as I always do, I had my regular BM just before taking the enema to enhance the cleanse of the walls of my colon. As it turned out, my regular bowel movement was a huge one...you know, one of those 2-3 footers where after you're done, it is hard to imagine anything else is still hanging around in there (I actually considered skipping the enema it was so big...lol!). I went ahead and did the enema anyway, and I'm glad I did...there was definitely still plenty of "residue" that came out with the enema, lots of sludge and "turdlets" that I was glad to have voided from me. I would say I probably passed at least 1/2 as much after the enema as I did during the original BM. So although I felt really good after my regular BM, I was on cloud nine after the "E"! All of my following BMs have been larger in circumference than normal, and I still feel great a week later! Enemas are good for us, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise! 😎