07/14/2025
Over there weekend, the number 1 dad in my life ended up in the hospital, impacted. After a couple of rounds of IV antibiotics, he was allowed to go home, as long as he had a bowel movement. I learned a manual colon flush technique 20 years ago in massage school. A technique I don't use very often, but incredibly effective most of the time, especially paired with walking. Here's a video on how to do it to yourself. After a few effluerage strokes clockwise from the ascending, transverse and descending colon, I start on the descending side to try to break everything down closest to the sigmoid. The physical therapist in the video demonstrates starting on the ascending colon. Probably time for a refresher on my end in case best practices entail beginning on the ascending colon, but either way, manual therapy techniques can be incredibly helpful when medication fails to get desired results.
A walk afterwards was the finishing touch. Yoga also has great poses to help the abdominal cavity. As always, if you're experiencing abdominal discomfort, please get checked out by your doc. I didn't work on my dad until the infection was under control. Not taking care of infections can lead to sepsis, so while manual therapy, physical therapy and yoga poses can assist in these situations, it's crucial to be cleared by your physician.
VIDEO: Colon Massage to Improve Bowel Mobility
In this video, Jillian Miller, PT, DPT, shows us a self colon massage. This should be completed about 20 minutes prior to a bowel movement.
