Ten days ago I had the most powerful demonstration of how important it is to have plenty of those “good bacteria” we hear about on probiotic ads…

I had had problems with a tooth and my dentist recommended a seven day course of antibiotics. Being a colonic therapist I knew both that this was not going to do my gut any good … and … that I had many ways of coaxing things back to a healthy flourish state again 🙂

What I didn’t expect was to have such tangible proof that things were not as they should be!

When I got into natural nutrition and colonics, six years ago, I had dermatitis on my hands –  and over a year I cured it through diet and colonics.

There is a strong link between the colon and the skin – our two major organs of elimination. With the colon it is obvious – but we don’t always think of our skin as an organ of elimination – but as our skin breaths and sweats it releases toxins – and if it gets overloaded – a spot forms…   And if our colon isn’t as it should be then the skin has to lend a hand … in my case literally!

But back to my story … Within a couple of days of taking the antibiotic the skin on my hands started first to blister and then to crack and peel … I was fascinated 🙂 – years of my skin with hardly a blemish and then introduce antibiotics into the mix and I was back to square one!

But the real fun and games came a week later when I had the troublesome tooth extracted.  I had it done under local anaesthetic and – again – as a colonic therapist – I knew that as soon as that anaesthetic entered my system my liver would go into action to break it down – identifying it as a toxin I would be better off without!

By the time I got home from the dentist it wasn’t just my hands giving me a visual demonstration of my body complaining about these disruptive chemicals … I had angry red spots forming on my forearms, legs, tummy and back …

I hadn’t expected my whole body to go into revolt in this way – but I already had my action plan in place to reclaim my gut health after this onslaught!  So as soon as I got home I had a double quantity of an extra strength probiotic, taken with probiotic goats yoghurt with flaxseeds – thus reintroducing the bacteria ( the probiotics and yoghurt) I needed,   and making sure my bowels kept moving (the flaxseeds). I also made sure that I had meals rich in soluble and insoluble fibre so the probiotics had plenty to feed on as they multiplied and recolonised my colon!

That evening I gave myself a castor oil pack to support my liver as it continued to break down the anaesthetic.

The next morning I started my day with a coffee enema to expel bile and with it the toxic by-products of my liver breaking down the anaesthetic. I also gathered together fresh green vegetables and made myself one and a half litres of fresh green juice to consume over the next couple of days.

During the day I continued with probiotics, yoghurt, flaxseeds and also kefir – a homemade fermented milk product – rich in cultured bacteria. I kept my diet vegetarian both to feed the bacteria and keep the transit time through my gut nice and perky! And in the evening I had a colonic to support my body in eliminating chemical by products and metabolic wastes… and another castor oil pack.

I continued this regime – supportive diet – including fresh green juice – coffee enema, castor oil pack and colonic for a couple of days; dropped the coffee enema for the third; and then just continued with a supportive diet – and my skin responded like a dream – spots went in just over 24 hours and then the skin on my hands started to heal 🙂

I was SO grateful that I knew how to get my body back into balance – and I know that without those three colonics to shift all those toxins – my skin would have been providing me with a visual demonstration of my body struggling for many more days!

I do know that my response to having a tooth out is not typical! – But the sense of empowerment – and relief at feeling myself get back to normal so quickly – made me very pleased that I am the rather odd creature that I am – and it means that I can help others – so if you have any similar challenges – do get in touch 🙂