The History of Colon Hydrotherapy, Part III
The use of enemas and hydrotherapy increased quite considerably after the 15th century, and it was considered the “mode of fashion” to be irrigated on a daily basis, sometimes three times a day. Regnier de Graaf expanded upon the designs of the clyster bag prevalent in the 17th century, to design an apparatus that only needed one person to operate. At this time, the bags used for colon hydrotherapy were large and hard to hold, making it difficult for someone to operate it alone.
This design and the history of colon cleansing using a colonic continued into the 18th century with Louis XIV encouraging its use. However, the popularity of colon hydrotherapy did stop to wane by the beginning of the 20th century. During this time, the use of gastro-intestinal drugs increased in popularity. During this time, the public wanted quicker ways to deal with there gastro-intestinal illnesses. Drug production grew to meet this demand.
The use of gastro-intestinal drugs for colon cleaning continued for a while, but the public’s love of hydrotherapy was rejuvenated with the help of Dr. Kellogg. He published numerous papers on the use of colon hydrotherapy to cure the illnesses of many of his patients. Kellogg was adamant that it was possible to treat the body without using drugs and surgery in many cases.
However, the most important work in the history of colon hydrotherapy is the work published by Dr. w. Russell. In the literature entitled, “Colonic Irrigation,” Dr. w. Russell described the overall history of the use of enemas, syringes, and clyster bags. It was as a result of the work he published, that the general term of “colon irrigation” was accepted. He also cited how many of his patients had the tone and appearance of the wall of the intestines improved by irrigation.
The use of colon hydrotherapy in hospitals continued until 1960s, after which many of the pharmaceutical companies started to increase their production of laxatives. By the 1970s hospitals were no longer conducting colonic irrigation on their patients.
Tags: colon, Colon Cleansing, colon-hydrotherapy