The History of Enemas

Water enemas have been used throughout the ages and were known in China, India, Greece, Babylonia, ancient Sumeria and Egypt.  Herodotus wrote that the Egyptians used them for three consecutive days each month, although according to the later historian Diodorus, they were used at intervals of every three to four days.  American Indians made an enema syringe out of a animal bladder and hollow leg bone.  A third century Aramaic manuscript is held by the Vatican, graphically describing enemas.  It is reported that Louis XIV used over 2,000 enemas during his lifetime.  In pre-revolutionary France, an enema after dinner was common, being considered good health practice. 

An old-fashioned word for an enema is a Clyster, which was used from around the 17th Century to the 19th Century.  A Clyster is a term used for enemas administered using a clyster syringe, a syringe which has a rectal nozzle and plunger.  They were generally administered by apothecaries or servants.  Clyster syringes were replaced around the 19th Century by enema bags and enema bulb syringes. The use of enemas died out until World War I, when the use of coffee enemas began to emerge.

Dr Max Gerson MD used coffee enemas in the 1940s and 1950s for patients needing detoxification.  All major nursing textbooks listed them through the 1950s and The Merck Medical Manual listed coffee enemas until the mid 1970s.  Scientific studies were carried out by Dr Nicholas Gonzales MD in the USA and the amazing health benefits of the coffee enema are now well known.  Many health practitioners use a coffee enema with their clients to aid detoxification and enhance the process of healing and regeneration.