Colonic Irrigation

Colonic irrigation, also called colon cleansing, colon therapy, or colon hydrotherapy, is an alternative medicine practice claimed to remove toxins from the colon and intestinal tract by clearing out accumulated feces, using tubes to inject water, sometimes mixed with herbs or other liquids, into the colon through the rectum, or using oral regimens of fiber, herbs, supplements, or laxatives. It rests on the idea of autointoxication, a hypothesis coined in 1884 by French physician Charles Jacques Bouchard that putrefied feces lining the large intestine harbor parasites or harmful gut flora and cause general ill health; the hypothesis was discredited in the early twentieth century. There is no scientific evidence that colonic irrigation provides the benefits claimed for it, and some preparations have been linked to heart attacks, electrolyte imbalances, infection, or bowel damage.