If you’ve booked a colonic for the first time — or you’re still deciding — the not-knowing is usually the hardest part. Most people arrive at my studio in Chipstead having spent weeks imagining something far worse than what actually happens. So here is the honest version: what a first appointment involves, start to finish, with nothing glossed over.
The short answer: allow around 75 to 90 minutes. You’ll spend the first 20 minutes talking, about 40 minutes on the treatment couch, and the rest in a private en-suite and a short chat afterwards. You stay covered throughout, the system is closed so there’s no odour, and you can ask me to stop at any point.
Before you arrive
There’s no dramatic preparation required. In the two or three days beforehand, it helps to favour vegetables, fruit and whole foods, and to ease off alcohol and heavily processed meals if you can. Drink plenty of water the day before.
On the day itself, avoid eating for about two hours before your appointment, and skip fizzy drinks entirely. Wear something loose and comfortable. That’s genuinely it.
If you’d like the fuller version, this guide covers what to eat and avoid beforehand in more detail — including the preparation advice you can safely ignore.
If you take regular medication, have had surgery recently, or are managing an ongoing health condition, tell me when you book rather than on the day. Occasionally that conversation means the treatment isn’t suitable — this post covers who it isn’t appropriate for — and it’s far better to establish that in advance.
The consultation — around 20 minutes
We start by sitting down properly. There’s a confidential health questionnaire covering your digestion, diet, medication and medical history, and then a real conversation about what’s brought you in.
This is also where you ask me anything. In my experience people arrive with a mental list of questions they’re slightly embarrassed to voice — about smell, about noise, about whether they’ll lose control of anything. I would much rather you asked. None of it is unusual, and I’ve heard all of it before.
If something in your history means colon hydrotherapy isn’t appropriate for you, we stop here and I’ll explain why and what might help instead. I’d far rather turn down a booking than take one I’m not comfortable with.
Getting settled — about 5 minutes
You change in private and lie on the treatment couch, on your side to begin with. You’re covered with a gown and a blanket, and you stay covered for the whole session.
A small, sterile, single-use tube is inserted about two inches. This is the part people dread most and, almost universally, the part they tell me afterwards was nothing like as bad as they’d braced for. It takes a few seconds. If you’re tense it’s more uncomfortable, so it’s worth knowing that the discomfort people imagine is mostly anticipatory.
The treatment itself — around 40 minutes
Warm, filtered water flows in slowly, then releases, in gentle cycles. I control the temperature and pressure continuously and adjust them to how you’re finding it.
What it feels like: a mild sense of fullness building, then relief as it releases. A bit like a wave. Some people find it genuinely relaxing and get quite chatty. Others feel occasional brief cramping as the bowel contracts — this passes quickly and is a normal part of things working.
I may use light abdominal massage at points to help things along. And I’m in the room the whole time. You are never left alone wondering whether something is meant to be happening.
The questions nobody wants to ask
Will there be a smell? No. The system is closed — water flows in and waste flows out through the same sealed line, straight to the drain. Nothing is exposed at any point.
Will I lose control? No. The tube stays in place and everything is contained within the closed system.
Can I stop partway through? Yes, at any moment, and you don’t need to justify it. Say the word and we stop.
Is it painful? For most people, no. Uncomfortable in passing, occasionally. Painful is not what I’d expect, and if it were, we’d stop. There’s a fuller, honest answer here, broken down by the parts people actually worry about.
Afterwards — 10 to 15 minutes
You’ll have private use of the en-suite for as long as you need. There’s no rush and no one waiting on the room.
Then we sit down briefly to talk through how it went, what to eat over the next day or two, and whether a follow-up session would be useful for you. Some people benefit from a short course; plenty of people come once and that’s the right answer for them. I’ll tell you honestly which I think applies.
How you might feel for the rest of the day
Most people feel lighter and less bloated, and many describe a lift in energy. Some feel a little tired instead — both are common and neither is a cause for concern.
Your bowel movements may be irregular for a day or two while things settle. That’s expected.
For the rest of the day: drink water steadily, start with something light and warm — soup, broth, steamed vegetables — and skip alcohol and caffeine for 24 hours if you can manage it. The aftercare guide covers the following 48 hours in more detail, including the rare warning signs worth acting on.
When it isn’t the right treatment
Colon hydrotherapy isn’t suitable for everyone. Pregnancy, active inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, recent abdominal or bowel surgery, severe haemorrhoids, uncontrolled high blood pressure and several other conditions all rule it out. The consultation covers this properly, and you can read the fuller list on the colon hydrotherapy page.
If you have persistent digestive symptoms you haven’t had looked at — ongoing pain, bleeding, a change in bowel habit that’s lasted weeks — please see your GP first. Colon hydrotherapy is a complementary therapy. It doesn’t diagnose or treat medical conditions, and it isn’t a substitute for medical advice.
Still unsure?
That’s completely reasonable, and you don’t have to commit to anything to ask a question. Plenty of people ring or message me first, ask the thing they’ve been wondering about, and book weeks later or not at all. Either is fine.
If you’d like to talk it through, get in touch — or if you’re ready, you can book a session directly.