The Colon is a tube approximately five feet long and 21/2 inches in diameter. A healthy colon is illustrated at right. It extends from the cecum, where it joins the small intestine, up and across the abdominal cavity and down the left side of the body. The sigmoid is located between the descending colon and the rectum.
The colon completes the digestive process. It absorbs minerals, nutrients and excess water from the digested residue of food we have eaten, and discharges toxins and waste materials of from the body. When the colon is clean and healthy, we experience a feeling of well-being. When it is congested with stagnant wastes, poisons back up into the system and pollute the inner environment. This is called autointoxication-literally, "self-poisoning."
All of the body's tissues are affected by autointoxication. If the poisons back up into the nervous system, we feel irritable and depressed. We feel weak if they back up to the heart, bloated if they reach the stomach, and our breath is foul if they reach the lungs. If the toxins back up to the skin (another organ of elimination), it becomes sallow and wrinkled. And if they back up to the glands, we feel tired, lacking enthusiasm and sex drive, and look old beyond our years. Autointoxication can be a causative factor in numerous serious diseases.
Improper diet, insufficient exercise, stress, overeating and ignoring the "call of nature" can all lead to bowel problems. You can see how unhealthy a colon can become in the illustration to the right below. One common sign of trouble-dense, sticky . bowel movements-indicates an excess of mucous in the system. This is usually the product of mucous-producing foods such as meat, dairy products and flour. Mucous stools are difficult for the body to eliminate. When they are expelled, they leave behind a glue-like coating on the wall of the colon which accumulates, layer by layer, into a hard rubbery crust.
When a person is constipated, the walls of the colon are often encrusted with this accumulated fecal matter (ie, rubbish). The inner circumference of the colon is reduced, rather like a water pipe blocked by mineral deposits. Since the encrusted feces form a barrier, the colon is unable to absorb and eliminate properly. Wastes, which should normally be drawn in through the colon wall, are reabsorbed by the body-along with other toxins resulting from the fermentation and putrefaction of incompletely digested food. Intestinal stasis occurs when the muscular contractions known as peristalsis can no longer sweep the hardened feces along the digestive canal. The opposite effect is diarrhea, which occurs when the body reacts to encrusted fecal matter by stepping-up the frequency of peristaltic wave action.
A person receiving a colonic lies on a table at the foot of which is a colonic device consisting of pressure control, temperature control, observation tube and monitoring gauges. A special hygienic speculum is gently put in the rectum by the patient under the guidance of our therapists. Water flows in the colon through the speculum and out into water drainage tube under the table together with feces and mucous. As the water flows out of the colon, the practitioner gently massages the abdomen to help release its contents. It is possible to see this expelled waste matter when it passes through a special viewing mirror in front of the table. The inflow and outflow of the water is to exercise our colon. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes for each session.
Colonic Irrigation is an internal bath that helps cleanse the colon of poisons, gas and accumulated fecal retention of water. There is no discomfort, no internal pressure-just a steady, gentle flow in and out.
A series of colonics is sometimes necessary to dislodge hardened waste. Colonic irrigation is most effective when employed in combination with exercise and a proper diet of non-mucous-producing foods. Fresh fruits, vegetables and certain herbs are suggested to help loosen and dissolve accumulated fecal matter.
Once the colon is clean, it is advisable to have a colonic every three or four months to maintain healthy tone. A good time is at the change of seasons, when diet and exercise patterns often change. You should also have a colonic before, during, or after a fast to hasten the removal of toxic waste.
By cleansing the colon impacted and putrefactive fecal matter, colonics offer relief from a variety of disturbances. Fatigue, gas, headaches, irritability, skin problems, cold hands and feet, and lethargy are among the symptoms people have found relieved by colon cleansing. Constipation, of course, is another, as well as chronic diarrhea. With colonic irrigation, your sense of well being is often dramatically improved. You feel lighter, more energetic. The body can again take nourishment from food and defend itself against disease.