Large Enemas with Long Retention Times

The following is probably the most thorough enema procedure that has ever appeared in print in English. It is recommended by a highly qualified therapist in his Naturopathic Textbook:-

Anyone wishing to take a full colon cleansing, should always be properly prepared by spending at least one day on an all-fruit diet before starting. At least eight hours should have elapsed after the last fruit meal and it is always best done after a night’s rest. [The day on the fruit diet and 8 hour fast ensures that the stomach and small intestine are completely emptied thus preventing nausea.]

The results with an enema can in the private house can be just as good as the colonic irrigation apparatus. It is best to obtain an 8 pint size (5 US quart), as this is the normal maximum used in this way. Inject the water on the left side or in a kneeling or crouching position. The left side is perhaps the best position. The first irrigation should not exceed 1 pint of water at body temperature and this amount can be increased by 1 pint on each succeeding day until the patient’s maximum [from 6 to 8 Imperial pints or 4 to 5 US quarts] has been reached.

When the desired amount has been absorbed, the patient should continue to lie on the left side for 10 minutes and then turn to lie on the back for a further 10 minutes with careful kneading of the abdomen. After this the patient turns over to the right side for another 10 minutes, followed by 10 minutes in the face down position. If, during this time [in the face down position] the retention of the water becomes intolerable, then it should be expelled and a longer time aimed at with the next irrigation.

[Note: The author recognizes the difficulty in the retention of the enema in the face down position, because of the increased pressure caused by the weight of the body on the distended abdomen. Nevertheless in spite of this difficulty, he recommends aiming for the full ten minutes retention in the face down position, to ensure the loosening of hardened encrusted waste.]

If it is found impossible to hold the water for this length of time on the first day, there is no cause for alarm and greater lengths of time can be aimed at quite successfully in following treatments until a maximum of forty minutes has been reached. Quite often the encrustations of many years will be harmlessly expelled by a course of these irrigations and in many cases the patient will feel rejuvenated.

From Naturopathic Practice - J. Hewlett-Parsons DSc. Thorsons Publishers Ltd London 1968.

Pages 134 to 135.

This book was re-published in paperback in 1985.

The author has the following qualifications:-

Fellow and Secretary of the Register of Consultant Herbalists and Homeopathic Practitioners and sometime Vice President of the Guild of Naturopaths and Osteopaths.)

I’ve had this book for 40 years, but I’ve only ever managed to achieve holding up to 4 US quarts for ten minutes of the left side and ten minutes on the back. I would hardly think that there would be many who would be ALARMED, if they could not achieve the 40 minute retention. One could be forgiven for thinking that this was a disciplinary procedure especially designed to challenge the willpower of even the most experienced enema user today.

What do others think?

Is anyone else willing to try holding 4 or 5 US quarts for the full 40 minutes?

According to the author, you will be rewarded by achieving results at home, which are just as good as the more professional Colonic Irrigation Treatment.

I have held 3-qt Epsom salt and sopasuds enemas as long as 15 minutes. 4qts I have never gotten past 7 minutes.

I think a super enema with a large does not make much sense. A normal volume enema but 20 or more minutes holding has more cleaning results. A.

I can get 4 quarts in when using my JBL sit-down bag in a semi-squatting position. Then I'm pretty bloated up, my otherwise flat belly hugely distended. Holding it for 20 minutes in this position is possible for me, but for a warm saline solution only. And then I sometimes have a hard time getting rid of it after a long retention. Dribbles and spatters, no real satisfactory gushing. But not if I use soap or Epsom salts. Jeez, forget about anything more than 10 minutes - and that's pushing my limits!

Hi Howard,

Nice to see your name again! i think the author of that procedure probably wrote it for the treatment of someone with severe bowel problems; for I would need to be desperate to do as he says! And as you know, I am a fan of large volume. True, he is advocating plain water and he says nothing about temperature (which does make a difference in my ability to hold anything. I can hold an imperial gallon soapsuds enema for 15 minutes max, but not without a really large inflation nozzle; and even then I am so desperate for relief it is almost expelled.

Please don't challenge me to try it. I seldom have that much time! By the end of 40 minutes, with no salt in the enema, quite a lot will have been absorbed. Don't you think some detail has been left out, here? That's long enough to induce some electrolyte imbalance, surely?

Johnny

. Last night I did 4.5 qts with ivory soap sticks and held it for about ten minutes. I find the kneeing position helps and is easier to take the volume

I'm lucky if I can hold a 2 quart for 15 minutes. My rectum just isn't that tight. LOL

My usual enema routine is to do three or four two to three quart cleanout enemas, followed by a four to five quart enema that I usually hold for 45 minutes to an hour. To do this, I use a salt and soda solution, otherwise I will get lightheaded from hyponatremia, and due to the water absorption, have to urinate after about ten minutes.

A word of caution about soap- it is very irritating to the intestinal lining, which causes the urge to expel. This is why soap is used in a pre-procedure enema, as almost all of the colonic contents are expelled. Long term retention of a soap enema can cause damage to the lining of the colon, so for a retention enema, the best solution is salt and soda.

Have fun holding!

I have done 3 Quarts and held for 10 min.

I usually do four quarts and then put in a colt expandable butt plug. That way I can hold it 15 minutes and longer while I get up and walk around and prepare my equipment for the next round without worrying about leaking. Usually after 30 minutes, I decide it has been long enough and it is time to get on with the business. Without the expandable plug in place, I can make little messes on the floor because my sphincter will not hold the liquid in.

hankb

I hold all 2 an 3 qt enemas 15 minutes.

Longer risks too much absorption into the blood stream and "Water Overload, which can cause heart failure

Less risks a less-than-thorough job and more enemas in the session

I usually take 4 quarts for 1 hour

and sometimes 5 quarts for a few minutes

LisaK said

I hold all 2 an 3 qt enemas 15 minutes.

Longer risks too much absorption into the blood stream and "Water Overload, which can cause heart failure

Less risks a less-than-thorough job and more enemas in the session

@Lisak, you have no understanding of physiology.

If you drink two or three quarts of water you will be fine and you absorb 100% of that.

If you take a three quart enema and retain it for an hour, you will still expel at least two quarts.

If you hold it overnight, it would have been the same as drinking the three quarts over six to eight hours which is also perfectly safe.

As for physiology:

According to Paracelsus all substances can act as poisons, solely depending on their dosis (amount). This is also true for water. Google water poisoning.

Susie--Thanks for your setting things straight on the water intake issue. It confirmed what I had suspected.

hankb