Earliest Records Of Colon Hydrotherapy

 

The Egyptians Were the First to Practice Colon Hydrotherapy

The first record describing colon hydrotherapy is an 

Egyptian medical document from 1500 BCE known as the Ebers Papyrus. This ancient scroll shows that the Egyptians

employed emetics, purgatives, enemas, diuretics, diaphoretics 

and even bleeding to treat diverse diseases. 

 

Other Egyptian papyri provide some of the earliest indications of the importance of cleansing practices. The Kahun, Berlin, Hearst and

British Museum papyri, published in recent times to 

document the ancient origin of medical therapies, provide insight 

into ancient health practices. Such papyri are curious 

collections filled with charms, incantations, magical formulas, 

prayers and prescriptions, and information about 

suppositories, fumigation, enemas, poultices and plasters. 

The texts also mention the use of opium, hemlock, copper salts, squill 

and castor oil for colon cleansing as part of the pharmacopoeia.

 

Colon Hydrotherapy in South America, Africa, and Asia

Primitive tribes in the Amazon, central Africa, and remote parts of Asia practiced enemas, usually as part of medical practices performed by priests or shamans. Ritual enemas were practiced in Mayan ceremonies and by many other Central American and South American Indian tribes. Colon cleansing treatments were an important part of Taoist training regimens, and also observed in different approaches to Hinduism. In the 10th century, Sung Dynasty physician Chang Tsung-cheng wrote extensively on colon cleansing procedures and their therapeutic benefits, while other methods were mentioned in the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine in the 3rd Century BCE.

 

Colon Hydrotherapy in Ancient Greece and Rome

Hippocrates, Galen and Paracelsus, who are recognized as the founding fathers of Western medicine, described, practiced and prescribed the use of enemas. In 1880, Robert Bentley and Henry Trimen documented in their book Medicinal Plants, the use of enemas associated with some herbs. For example, fenugreek (trigonella foenum-graecum), imported from Greece by the 

Romans in ancient times, is described as a principal plant 

used during cleansing. The use of fenugreek as a medicinal 

agent is now obsolete in Europe and the United States, but

 in India the seeds are consumed both as food and medicine.

 

Colon Hydrotherapy in the United States

In the United States, the popularity of colon cleansing was remarkable in the early 20th century, and colonic irrigation machines were commonly seen. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, enemas were regularly used as a standard practice among physicians and implemented as a common treatment in most hospitals. Enema therapy declined in the 50's, but colon hydrotherapy became popular again at the end of the 20th century, and has continued to flourish in both popular and alternative culture.