Equally, numerous civilisations (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, India, Native Americans, the Essenes,...) offer proof that, throughout all times, cleaning the large intestine has been extolled as a simple act of hygiene, as a therapeutic procedure or as a method of inner purification.

Hipocrates (460-377 B.C.) described how to carry out colonic cleansing and specified what type of plant had to be added according to the type of illness.

In the Middle Ages, doctors administered enemas with complex solutions – the formulae for which are collected in the ‘antidotarius magnus’.

Amboriso Paré (16^th cent.) was the first to describe colonic irrigation in great detail and to make a distinction with a simple enema.

20^th Century
In the 1906 Larousse Illustrated Medical Dictionary includes various information concerning the use of enemas and colonic hydrotherapy.

Enema (or clysteria):
The injection of a variable quantity of liquid in the anus with the aid of a deposit, an irrigator, a syringe or a pear; an intestinal douche or hydrotherapy can also be used at the same end. A rubber tube or probe of sufficient depth (10 or 15 cm) is introduced into the intestine (enterclysa), in order to insert the liquid as far in as possible.

Method:
The patient lies down on the left or right side, depending on the author, legs slightly bent.

In order to relax the stomach muscles, the patient breathes lightly and avoids coughing; the cannula greased with vaseline is introduced; occasionally the presence of haemorrhoids or a fissure which causes the anal sphincter to contract makes it difficult to introduce the cannula, in which case warm cloths or a cocaine suppository is used; prostate or uterus tumours may also create obstacles and must be avoided; if necessary, a little liquid is circulated to help the insertion of the cannula.

Varieties:
The volume of water can be a litre (thorough enema), half a litre (full enema), quarter of a litre (half enema) and 125 grammes (small enema).

The temperature is cold-tepid (15 to 30ºC), tepid (34 to 37ºC), warm (39 to 45ºC) or very warm (45 to 55º).

The local effect varies according to this temperature:

Tepid: the only effect the enema has is because of its volume and by diluting the stools; its stimulatory effect on the intestine walls is slight and short-lived, and the intestine is relaxed;

Cold: causes the intestine to contract and then bile to be excreted; consequently it can be administered in small quantities;

Warm: has the same basic effect, but can dull sensation in the intestine easily, hence the possibility of enduring very hot prolonged enemas.

Intestinal douche
For domestic treatment, this is carried out while the patient is lying down, with a deposit or special cannula.

The quantity of water is from 2 to 8 litres at a temperature and pressure which depends on the case: cold at quite high pressure for constipation, warm and low pressure for diarrhoea.

In spa resorts, notably Châtel-Guyon, Plombières, Vichy, water springs are used above a bed with an outlet which drains to a toilet. A display allows the patient to see the temperature and the pressure.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the nutritionist medic Kellog (U.S.A.) publish an in-depth article about colonic hydrotherapy, while Dr Bosch (Germany) wrote about the ‘enterocleaner’, a predecessor to current hydrotherapy equipment.

Since then, both in the United States and Europe, doctors have shown that the large intestine can be the cause of several illnesses.

In 1939, Dr Lagroua, a specialist in illnesses of the intestine, perfected intestine cleansing apparatus which had been created by two German teachers. He opened an official centre of colonic hydrotherapy in the Beaujon-Clichy hospital in Paris. This facility was destroyed in the second World War and no longer exists.

Irons, an American naturopath and specialist in intestine problems, contributed greatly to the development of this technique in the United States. He died at the age of 95. Over a period of 45 years in various courses and seminars, he explained the importance of intestine hygiene and the way to give relief and solutions to intestine problems, using numerous sessions of colonic irrigation constantly updated .

Currently, colonic hydrotherapy is accepted but not recognised in the United States and Canada, as well as Swtizerland. It is recognised in England and Germany and is practised in Belgium, France and Spain without a defined legal status nor specific legislation.

El Dr. Carton insistía en la eliminación y particularmente sobre el emontorio intestinal que por la longitud y su anchura puede ser el sitio en el que se acumulen los desechos.

EDr Carton emphasised the importance of evacuation, particularly in the intestinal emontorio which can be the site of the accumulation of waste material along its length and breadth.

Dr Kousmine, a Swiss medic, recommended for all serious illnesses enemas on 21 consecutive days to which he added weekly hydrotherapy when he found out about its existence. He also advised intestinal cleansing for all healthy individuals, for hygiene and prevention of illness.

Dr E. Bach in the book ‘Flower remedies’ emphasises the importance of good intestinal hygiene.