Purification is a procedure of alternative medicine. During a purge, toxins, metabolic waste products and other harmful metabolic products should be brought out of the body for elimination.
What is purification?
Various alternative medicine therapy methods can be used for purification. For example, a purging method is bloody cupping, in which the skin is pricked several times with a sterile needle after disinfection. The cupping glass is then applied. In many naturopathic theories, health is defined as freedom from toxins and from toxins. In alternative medicine, slags include toxins and acids that are first neutralized with minerals and trace elements and then deposited in the tissues. Orthodox medicine is also familiar with such disease patterns. One example of this is gout, in which the body deposits metabolic waste products that it cannot excrete in the tissue. In gout, so much uric acid accumulates in the blood that the kidneys can no longer completely eliminate the acid. Uric acid crystals form, which are then deposited in the skin, joints or bursae. There they can cause inflammations. According to the understanding of alternative medicine, the body also deposits other substances that it cannot excrete in various places in the body. For this purpose, it prefers to use the connective tissue. At first sight, the only function of the connective tissue is to keep the organs in place and to protect them. But the connective tissue is also an important transit route. Oxygen, carbon dioxide, vitamins, nutrients, water and other substances are transported through the connective tissue from the blood capillaries to the target cells. For the Austrian physician Alfred Pischinger, the connective tissue was the central regulatory organ of the body. Too many deposits in the so-called Pischinger space are said to disturb this basic regulation and thus lead to numerous disease patterns. The purification has the goal to free the connective tissue and the other slagged tissues from the toxins, acids and metabolic waste products.
Function, effect and goals
Various alternative medicine therapy methods can be used for purification. The concept of purification is not scientifically recognized. The effectiveness of the individual procedures has also not yet been proven using strictly scientific methods. In traditional occidental medicine, the so-called purgative procedures are used for purification. One of these methods is bloody cupping. Cupping involves the use of cupping glasses to create a negative pressure on the skin. In bloody cupping, after disinfection, the skin is pricked several times with a sterile needle. The cupping glass is then placed on top. The negative pressure is traditionally created by heating the air in the cupping glass by lighting a cotton ball. Alternatively, there are also cupping glasses with a suction cup. The negative pressure in the cupping glass draws the blood out of the skin. Cupping glasses are mainly applied over so-called myogeloses. Myogeloses are muscle hardenings, which from the point of view of alternative medicine are a sign of slag deposits. The blood that collects in the cupping glasses is said to be particularly rich in slag. Bloodletting has a similar draining effect. During bloodletting, blood is taken from the patient. In the process, melanche, the black bile, is supposed to be taken out of the body. Bloodletting according to Saint Hildegard of Bingen is performed exclusively in the week following the full moon. The cantharide patch is also one of the traditional purification methods. The plaster, which is coated with an ointment made from the dried and ground beetle Lytta vesicatoria, stimulates blood circulation and lymph. After a few hours on the skin it causes a blistering skin inflammation. The leaking lymphatic fluid is said to contain waste products and toxins. The cantharide patch is also called white bloodletting. Known purifying measures are fasting cures and enemas. There are various fasting cures that are supposed to stimulate the purification of the body. Buchinger fasting involves fasting primarily with vegetable broth and juices. The Mayr fasting cure is based on the milk-semmel diet. In juice fasting, only fruit and vegetable juices are consumed.All fasting cures also involve targeted bowel cleansing using enemas or Glauber’s salt. The sauna is also one of the purifying procedures. The high temperatures stimulate the metabolism and waste products can be increasingly excreted through sweat.
Risks, side effects and dangers
From a conventional medical point of view, purification does not bring any benefits. A health benefit of the individual purification procedures could not be proven so far. Purification would therefore be useless. But some purification methods also carry risks. Fasting, for example, not only leads to the elimination of waste products, but also to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Due to the lack of energy supply, the body breaks down proteins from the muscles. This can also affect the heart muscle. Patients suffering from heart disease or circulatory disorders should therefore not fast. Fasting can also be dangerous for cancer patients, patients in convalescence, senior citizens or the chronically ill. Diabetics, pregnant women and nursing mothers should not fast at all. In general, inexperienced people should fast only under medical supervision or under the guidance of an alternative practitioner. It should be noted that some diseases can worsen during fasting. In particular, gout attacks may increase. In the case of the cantharide patch, a dangerous infection can occur if the wound is treated carelessly or if the patient is immunocompromised. Therefore, the patch should be used only by experienced doctors or alternative practitioners. The same applies to bloody cupping and bloodletting. These are invasive procedures that require adequate hygiene and expertise. A doctor should always be consulted before a purge is performed. This person can rule out the presence of a serious disease that requires conventional medical therapy.
