There is No Shame in an Enema

A few months ago, I needed to perform my first self-administered enema, and, much to my relief, it wasn’t that difficult to do. At the time, I thought it was the worst fate to ever befall me, and because of that, I was in distress longer than I needed to be. If I had known how easy and painless it is, I wouldn’t have waited so long to do it, and my constipation wouldn’t have lasted so long. Giving yourself an enema is easy to do and is no reason to feel shame.

The problem happened because of a gallbladder removal surgery. Apparently, my surgeon, or his staff, should have told me to take a laxative the night before the surgery. When surgery is performed on your digestive system, the whole thing stops, and if you don’t remove everything that is in the works, it gets stuck. Once the surgery happens, it takes awhile to get your system moving again. They give you a lot of information as to what to eat after the surgery, but it is actually what you eat before the surgery that can cause a problem.

I didn’t eat anything fatty, but what I did eat still got stuck and since I didn’t take a laxative, I had what is called an impacted fecal stool. The food I had eaten had digested, but it had hardened into something that would not move. That, paired with the pain killers, which also slow your system, created a mass of a problem. Two days after the surgery, I was on the toilet for 3 hours trying to empty my bowels. The result was frustration and a swollen, puffy backside.

After calling the doctor, he mentioned the possibility of having to do an enema, but I didn’t want to consider that possibility because I had heard traumatic stories from friends about having an enema done on them by well-meaning parents, and, of course, there’s always that horrible scene in the movie Sybil, which makes the whole process seem devastating.

The next 12 hours were spent drinking tons of water, not eating or bathing, squeezing out whatever I could, which wasn’t much, and drinking every kind of liquid laxative known to man. Still, nothing worked. My mother finally suggested getting a Fleet Enema kit, which I had never heard of. They come in a box of quantity 4 and are sold in regular drug stores. I was truly at the end of my rope, so I told her to go buy me a box. At this point, I began frantically searching the internet as to how this process was done. What I found wasn’t reassuring, hence my decision to write this article. I never want anyone to feel so alone like I did.

I had all of these horrible thoughts in my mind. What if I couldn’t find my own butt hole? Would it hurt? Things are supposed to come out of there, not go in, so what would it feel like? What if I squeezed all the water in and I couldn’t’ get to the toilet in time, making a big mess all over the floor?

I cried and prayed and prayed and cried some more. I absolutely did not want to do this. I wasn’t sure I could do it. My mother brought the box and put it in the bathroom for me. On legs of stone, I walked in the bathroom and read the directions about 12 times. I had a vision in my head of being able to eat again, shower again, sleep again, and feel normal again. That is the only reason I had the strength to do what I had to do.

So here’s what happened and what you are supposed to do:

1. Pull the tip of the enema bottle off and have it ready next to you.
2. Get all of your clothes on the bottom half off.
3. Lie on your side on a pillow. Pull your top leg up close to your chest, leaving your hinny exposed.
4. Slowly work the tip of the bottle into your rear until the tip is completely inside.
5. Slowly squeeze contents in. You can use the whole bottle, but you don’t have to.
6. Wait for a couple minutes or until you feel like you have to go to the bathroom.
7. Get on the toilet and wait for a small baby to evacuate your body.

Okay that last little bit is an exaggeration, but after 12 hours, tons of water, 3 different laxatives, and now this enema, the stopped up came out en masse. After it was finished, I wondered why I had waited so long. I was so relieved I cried. I was able to eat again, bathe, and sleep.

The enema did not hurt. It felt soothing since I was so sore and swollen. I am sure maybe people do have painful enemas if they are doing them for the wrong reason. Doing them on a regular basis, unless you have some serious medical issues is not necessary, and I think there are people who do them with the misguided thought that they need them to be clean.

In all areas of our body, including nose, ears, and yes, colon, our body protects us with the mucus, ear wax, or other things we find disgusting. If we had none of it, things wouldn’t operate correctly. Your body normally naturally controls the quantity of these items in your body. You only need to have an enema if you have a medical issue, such as impacted stool or if your doctor prescribes one to flush out your system.

Giving yourself an enema is easy and doesn’t have to be traumatic. I am so glad I decided to give it a shot, because otherwise, I don’t know what would have happened. Of course, maybe it could have been avoided if I had taken a laxative in the first place, but I didn’t know I was supposed to. Your takeaway should be that an enema is nothing to be afraid of and can provide much relief if done at the proper moment.