Who can you rely on to perform Colon Hydrotherapy?

We can evaluate from these few elements whether we “came to the right place":

- CHT must always be preceded by a medical examination which verifies the indications and contra-indications to therapy.　It is also correct to have at least one interview with the doctor after the cycle of treatments in the case that the CHT was carried out by a nurse. This serves to define the outcome of the therapy and receive ulterior advice on a possible continuation of the therapy.
- The operator must remain with the patient for the entire duration of the session. It is not acceptable in any way that an operator’s intervention be limited to inserting and removing the speculum, leaving the patient to independently regulate the entry and exit of water. Unfortunately, this does occur because some devices are equipped with a remote control, which must only be used for the convenience of the operator.
- The task of the operator is also and above all, to monitor with their hands on the patient’s belly, the outflow of the water internally and to encourage with precise gestures the evacuation of the material without adversely affecting the treatment.
- The decision to open the discharge to drain the contents of the colon is not always left to the patient according to their sensations, but it is a technical decision the operator makes, assessing the most appropriate time for the proper conduct of the therapy.
- In the majority of cases the therapy is not painful, but just uncomfortable at times. In a few cases the soreness of some sections must be foreseen and motivated and necessary precautions should be taken to solve the problem.
- The patient can talk and ask questions about the progress of the therapy and the operator is required to provide timely and accurate responses.
- The cleanliness of the rooms must be absolute and it must be ensured that the materials used are disposable.

The practice of Colon Hydrotherapy (CHT), performed with the tools currently in use, dates back to about forty years ago.
In our country, initial discussions began in the eighties, but a real dispersal of the therapy started to occur only in the last few years.
Italy is credited with having placed CHT within the appropriate field, that is, medical care, ruling that operators should at least be professionals, doctors or nurses. However, this does not guarantee that they have acquired specific technical knowledge.

Abroad, the therapy is definitely practiced a lot more than in Italy, but its diffusion has taken place in “alternative treatment” environments, an area popular with operators who are able to practice without possessing the professional qualifications, perhaps due to a more permissive legislation.
Given the widespread diffusion of intestinal irrigation practices in the world, it is understandable that most of the information reaching us, especially via the web, is not controlled and is very unreliable from a scientific point of view. Therefore, since few doctors in Italy are involved with CHT in a scientific manner, even our own operators, despite possessing the professionalism, are influenced by generic and misleading news. The consequence is that if the approach is superficial and the technique is approximate, therapy may not be effective.

What emerges from the analysis of the media is that CHT is seen as a simple intestinal cleansing, used to remove the encrustations residing in the colon for several years. So it is imagined as something similar but more sophisticated than an enema.

Well, CHT is not only a simple cleansing, but it is also a screening of the colon. It is not the cleaning of rigid pipe work, but it is the means in which we need to understand the causes of the malfunctions in order to rehabilitate its normal functions.

In order to successfully complete a session of CHT, technique, dexterity, knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the colon and experience are necessary.

Often not even a doctor or a paramedic realizes the variability of situations that may arise, thus simply reaching the cecum with the infusion of water can be a challenge.

This is merely one of the minimum technical requirements to be achieved in order to assure you have completed the therapy.

The colon is a complex organ that produces reflexes and adapts independently, but nerve pathways of communication also exist with the brain, so it is often influenced by messages that come from the area of the brain where emotions are located. So every therapy is a “little discovery" that must be completed taking into account several technical factors, such as the length and tortuosity of the colon, the characteristics of the feces contained in it and the nervous "susceptibility" of the organ, which is also affected by any incorrect maneuvers of the operator which may complicate an already intricate procedure.

Operators of CHT can acquire a good technique if they have taken a specific theoretical and especially practical course, and after having at least a hundred therapies to their credit. Currently the list of CHT operators that are on the web　derive from customer lists of CHT equipment suppliers or are lists of associations that promote CHT but do not guarantee the actual preparation of the operator. You can also contact the office of any random doctor, but the appointee who performs the therapy may be an employee of the office with no special training. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the patients who wishes to put themselves in trusted hands to evaluate the thorough professionalism of the service.

Conclusions...

To conclude, I would say that CHT is ancient practice concerning the principles that inspired it, but from a technical point of view, as a therapy intended to be a curative medical intervention, it is young.
The scientific world is still divided on the subject and a lot of experience is needed to assess the actual benefits.
If the time comes in which a single coded system is adopted, on which some medical associations are working towards, it would hopefully also be constituted with an actual register of CHT operators, which would allow the patient to safely orientate his choice towards a serious professional .

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