My First Colonic


I had a poop at 9 am today. Why do you care about that? You might not, but today's the day I get my first colonic, so I thought I'd start off by acknowledging the natural process that occurred before I went into for the not-so-natural-but-still-important colonic appointment. 

I'm on my way to get my colonic. It's really weird. I don't have any anxiety about this, I'm just sort of thinking this is just another thing you do to get healthy. No big deal. And I think maybe that's helped. I haven't given it any power to make me uncomfortable or nervous or have any anxiety over it. I do notice alot of other people have anxiety for me. But I don't have it yet. So who knows, maybe once I get in there I'll freak out a little bit, but for now I feel ok and it's nice that it's on a Friday, it's a good end to the week, and start to the weekend. It's a long drive, 45 minutes to Fayetteville, and it'll be in traffic coming home of course, but that's alright, it'll give me time to think. 

One of the questions that goes through my mind is what does the colon look like. I probably could have looked it up before I went, but maybe she'll have a chart or something to look at. Like is the colon one big room, or are there hallways off of it, little rooms with doors that have to be pushed open (obviously this is a little analogy I have going)? Curious about that, I mean obviously it can't just be one big room, otherwise why would we need colon irrigation?

So I got to the office at about 3:00, 30 minutes early cause I wanted to take pictures and check it out. I wanted to make sure it was ok with her that I put pictures of the place and the equipment and her on the site. I got to the place and it was one office door in a business complex, next to a chiropractor's office (found out later that the two are associated). 


Entrance to the Colon Hydrotherapy Center 

When I went in, there was already one person in a room having a session. Kim Lowrey is the Colon Hydrotherapist and after we talked for a few minutes about me taking pictures and writing about this experience, she got me started on a short health questionnaire.



Waiting Area
 

After the paperwork, she took me into the room where the machine is and showed me the basics of the Libbe (Libbe is a brand) colonic table.  


And there it is...the Libbe colonic table in all its glory.

She also answered any questions I had about what the colon looks like and where the waste goes and how the water flows and all that anatomy stuff. The digestive system charts she used to tell me about the colon is pictured below (left). Kim is also pictured below (right). 


Digestive System charts

Colon Hydrotherapist, Kim Lowrey

Next she showed me all the gadgets in the cabinet. There are water flow valves, temperature gauges, viewing tube flow valves, and some other things that I can't remember now. 

Cabinet where all tubes and such are located


So after she showed me the equipment, she began the process of explaining how it works, what I need to do, what the machine will do, etc. She said that I would get undressed down to nothing but my shirt and socks. I'll lay down on the table putting my feet on either side of the base and lie back resting my head on the pillow. She said I'd need to raise my shirt up in the back because of the back flow of water, so it doesn't get wet. Then she showed me the rectal tube (see below left), which comes in a sterile package. It's a hard clear plastic tube that I insert in my butt up to about 1 1/2 to 2 inches, passing through the rectal seal. Before I do that though, she already has it hooked up to the water flow part of the machine and put some KY jelly on it for easier insertion. And then I'm just supposed to scrunch my body down to be able to easily insert the tube in my butt. She'll then come in and put the splash guard over the rectal tube area and check to make sure the tube isn't kinked at the water flow source. 

Rectal tube where the water flows (left) and the place where the rectal tube hooks into the machine (right)


Before she left the room to let me get on the table, she put on some Dean Evenson music, which is calming and obviously helps with any sounds that might want to escape my body while the process is going on (good, cause I could actually hear her talking to people out in the waiting area, so the music was a plus!).  She turned off the overheard light, and put on the lamp for soft light, also calming. 

So she left, and I got on the table, I did what she said and the tube went in easy, no problem. The only thing I was concerned with is that, since I couldn't really feel it, I wondered if I'd know if it came out during the colonic (yikes! though she said that rarely happens). I covered up the bottom half of my body with the sheet and waited for her to come in. 



Me waiting for Kim to come in.

Kim came in and started the water and checked that the temp was up near 100 degrees. The water started flowing and it took a while for me to feel anything. Once I did, it was just cool (temperature), not any big deal. She said she was going to close my ileocecal valve (thank you Kim for confirming how to spell that), by pressing and using a sweeping motion just below and adjacent to my belly button. This valve keeps waste from flowing back into the small intestines. It normally is closed. It just opens up when the waste matter moves into somewhere, I can't remember what she said. She shuts the valve on my body to make sure that the water that flows through the large intestine doesn't go into the small intestine. 

Then she asked me if I wanted her to massage my stomach for a while, which breaks up things more effectively. I said sure, and she did that for maybe 10 minutes or so. This was a pretty deep massage, so anything that was stuck to the walls, I would think would be released. 

Then all of a sudden, it was time to release the water. She told me to just push when I feel the need to release. The water and all excrement goes into the open hole beneath me, through the viewing tube and out into wherever it goes to be dumped. She left the room to leave me alone while I released everything. I looked down at the viewing tube and it looked like diarrhea. A little bit later, as I was watching the viewing tube, it appeared that a line of slimy sludge had been released, which I was excited about, cause maybe it was the mucous plaque that so many people refer to when they get their colonics. I hope so, I want those years of cooked to be removed asap.  

(Oh by the way, this system is an open system. There's another type of colonic called the closed, pressure system, which has one tube going in your butt and one coming out for the excrement (the hydrotherapist has to insert these tubes, whereas on this machine, I insert the water flow tube myself). This one is open because the excrement doesn't leave through a tube, it just comes out by going on either side of the water flow tube. She said the pressure system has some disadvantages, comfort, leg cramps, the excretion tube can "blow" if the excrement is bigger than the 2 inch tube. I'll probably try one of those one day soon, just to have tried both and compare.) 


Viewing tube where all excrement goes. This is a one-way tube.


I was left alone pretty much for the 45 minute session, which I liked. She checked on me about every 10 minutes and then came in once more about half way through and did some more massage. That helped again, cause after about 10 minutes, I needed her to leave again to let me release. I definitely recommend the massage (it's optional), because I think more came out than would have without the massage. I will say that after about 30 minutes, everything that came out was pretty much clear liquid. I've heard you might have to do colonics several times to really cleanse your system. 

After the timer went off she came in and asked if I needed 5 more minutes. I said yes, so she reset the timer and left me alone again. 

I hadn't had any cramping during the colonic, just a little tense, like I really had to go. But even when I would push, it still felt like I had to go and not enough would release for my liking. 

Afterward, she came in and told me how to get up and clean myself off. This is the only part of the whole process that I didn't feel comfortable with. She showed me where paper towels and baby wipes were. And I used the spray hose that was hooked up to the machine, but it was really hard to sit against the machine, clean off, try to avoid water on the floor, and dry myself off at the same time, while avoiding getting water on my shirt or socks. I think having a full towel and a separate sink would have been good...with soap. The baby wipes didn't cut it for me, even though I used about 6 of them. 

I got dressed and went back out in to the waiting area, where she made me an EmergenC drink, which was water with trace minerals to give me back some of the electrolytes that would be removed during the colonic. It was sorta lemony, just like mineral water.

And that was it. I felt great, not lighter exactly, as some people say, but I did feel cleansed. My tummy felt a little sore, like I'd done some crunches. I figure that is to be expected when you have all that water going in, the massage, and all that coming out. 

Kim was very professional and gentle. The massage totally changed the way I think this would have come out (no pun intended). I'm glad I decided to have her do that both at the beginning and in the middle. It's not as embarrassing as you might think it is. She's a professional and I'd definitely go to her again. I think I'll have a couple more to get the most benefit. And then, I think I'll get them annually after that. 

One final note, I was STARVING afterwards. Even on the table, my stomach started growling. I don't know if that was from hunger or the colonic itself. She said not to eat anything big for a bit, like have something easy like soup tonight or a smoothie. The handout she gave me said not to have RAW veggies for 3 days (yes, 3 days!) after a colonic. That's interesting isn't it. Well, I'm not going to listen to that, of course. I'm going to live as I normally live and expect that my body will be expecting raw vegetables and that it would go into more shock if I didn't give it that. So that's one part that I disagree with, so we'll see if my disagreement is right on or not. 

There you have it folks, that was my experience with a colonic. If there were parts that you feel I didn't address to your liking, just shoot me an email and I'll add it here for all to read. 

PS It was $50 for the initial visit. Then after that it's $60 a session. You can get the price down if you pay for a series, but I don't really want to do that, as I will be trying other places too, to see which I like the best. (Update: Prices have changed to $60 per session, not $50 for the first visit.) She recommended 2 the first week, then one a week for I think 3 weeks, then I think she said every 6 weeks. My personal take is, I'm going to get three in a row, one a month, then once a year.

Follow-up note the next day: My tummy feels like it's been beat up. It's like I've done a zillion crunches, so actually the feeling is not a bad one, as it might sound. Just thought it was interesting the impact all the water running through my intestines and the abdominal massage had on my tummy. 

Note from Kim regarding how often to have colonics: "I leave it up to my clients to decide, but for optimum results it is recommended to do about ten in a series. Two the first week, two the second week, then once a week thereafter. A minimum maybe five to seven sessions. A maintenance plan is very good to do after a series is completed. That varies from person to person and depends on ones' diet. It may be at the change of seasons, or once per month, several throughout the year, or even when you're not feeling well. I recommend to just listen to your body." (I love that response, I agree, listen to your body and mind to decide!)

If you are in the Northwest Arkansas area and are interested in scheduling an appointment with Kim, contact her via the information below. 

Kim Lowrey, Certified by the International Assoc. of Colon Hydrotherapy
Colon Hydrotherapy Center of NW Arkansas
93 W. Colt Square, Suite 4
Fayetteville AR 72703
(479) 571-2656
email: docjean@sbcglobal.net
 


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