Enemas in space

I went to the movie, "Gravity," and it got me to thinking. If you were an astronaut in a space station and you got constipated, what would you do? Would you use a suppository, and, if so, which kind? If you did and enema, would you give it to yourself, or would you have one of the other astronauts do it? Since there is no gravity there, you would have to use a closed top bag or the water would come out. You could not just hang it up and have it flow in, again because there is not gravity, so you would have to use a Higginson pump. Which position would you use, or does position even mean anything when you are floating around? What other things can you think of that you would have to consider or do? In any event, having an enema 220 or more miles above the earth gives new meaning to the term "high enema."

hankb

An enema in space without artificial gravity would be BAD.

The expelling would be the real problem. The brown water and waste would go everywhere. Do some research on space toilets. Feces is easy to contain. Urinating is done essentially into a vacuum tube.

I don't think they would be much fun.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_toilet

Seen Gravity myself over the weekend. Good movie!! Never thought about how a space enema would feel, but wondered how it would be done.

A closed colonic system would work well. You just back up onto the speculum that is protruding from the wall and turn it on. The waste would be sent out into space. Just don't get it on your shuttle windshield.

I sincerely doubt they would ever use up so much water on that.

That's why the astronauts undergo such stringent physical exams.

Ewww! "Poop in Space" lol, thanks for that image Zenema

Susie--Thanks for the interesting article on the space toilet.

hankb