What homeopathic philosophy teaches us about colonics

Dismissing regimes that didn’t work for you or that sound uncomfortable and/or improbable is easy.

But to evaluate any therapy fairly, I always go back to aphorism 2 of the Organon.

A friend of mine frequently had colonics treatments done, and eventually became a practitioner herself. For those of you not acquainted with colonics, it involves a practitioner putting a hose in your backend and washing out your insides. The practitioner can also place a mirror so that you can watch what is coming out of you. While my friend gleefully recounted the stories of food, worms, colors, textures that she saw in her mirror and her patient’s, I would nod politely and fight to keep my lunch down. She is why when patients squirm after telling me some grizzly detail about their digestion, I can honestly tell them not to worry; I have heard worse! But I was always flummoxed by my friend. I mean, who loves spending their Saturday morning watching tapeworms come out of a stranger’s bum? Or watching them come out of your own?!

But she loved it. She loved many things that were supposed to clear out toxins; any kind of detoxing diet that came her way she would try, along with various exercises in rooms of differing temperatures (designed to either sweat the toxins out or freeze them out) and various breathing exercises that were supposed to release toxins. I would try many of these things with her, convinced by her elation and fantastical stories that if I didn’t try, I would miss the secret to a happy and healthy life. Usually, I ended up laying in bed, dizzy, hot, nauseous, and wanting to strangle her for ever convincing me to try this horrendous diet or exercise regime. She, however, never lost her zeal.

Dismissing regimes that didn’t work for you or that sound uncomfortable and/or improbable is easy. But to evaluate any therapy fairly, I go back to aphorism 2 of the Organon. In this aphorism, the aspects of ideal medical treatment are outlined, giving the most clear and objective way to measure a therapy I have heard of. For those new to the Organon, it’s homoeopathy’s “idiot’s guide to homeopathy”; a book on medical and homeopathic philosophy written by the doctor Samuel Hahnemann in the 1800s. The Organon outlines the ideals for all of medicine in general, but also how to practice homoeopathy. The book begins by proposing that the highest mission of a physician should be to make people well. He then further postulates that the ideal therapy is one that heals permanently, gently and quickly, according to clear principles. The “clear principles” is a topic for another day, so let’s just focus on speed, gentleness, and permanence.

[1] The term used is “physician” however anyone practicing healing in any capacity – spiritual healers, herbalists, naturopaths, homeopaths, MDs, etc all would fall under the term as it is used here.

I believe, as I am sure Hahnemann did, that homeopathy is usually the closest therapy to the ideal when these three things are taken together. In other words, it may not out-perform other therapies if one category is taken alone. Some things are permanent but not gentle (surgery to fix a mechanical issue for example) or gentle but not quick (like many – but not all - supplements). But I believe homeopathy generally performs excellently in every category and that’s why I practice it. But this is a personal belief, and not to be mistaken as fact. And indeed, I believe that we should continually evaluate these three aspects of cure for every individual and in every unique situation because whether a therapy is the most appropriate is context specific. In other words, in some situations, speed is necessary, but permanence and gentleness are not. For example if I’m losing blood quickly and only have a few minutes to get help, then someone roughly jumping on my wound to apply pressure, causing pain and lets say some broken bones, is the best possible intervention. I wouldn’t want someone timidly touching their index finger to my wound in the name of being “gentle”, since their gentleness may cost me my life. But in other situations, a person may prefer something that is gentle, at the expense of speed. Or something that is permanent at the expense of speed. Everyone has the right to choose what they value in their own medicine. We are our own best physicians.

So back to colonics. There is a never-ending supply of therapies that say they “clean you out” (literally and figuratively). Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. The idea of being toxic is muddled at the best of times. However if your eczema or headaches or insomnia improve after a treatment, then something in the treatment is clearly agreeing with you. Afterall, the true point of medicine should be that it improves your health, so improvement should be valued over ideology. But for every treatment (not just colonics or homeopathy, but every kind of medicine) ask yourself “Is my improvement fast, gentle, or permanent enough for me?” If the answer is “yes” than pay no heed to any nay-sayers and keep doing it. If the answer is “no” then take a look around and find something more appropriate for what you value. The advantage to the saturated and diverse health market these days is that you will likely find your goldilocks-approved therapy.