Milk and Molasses Enema

[medicrnohio, RN]

The other night at work I had an order to give a patient a milk and molasses enema. Having never done this before and only heard in nursing school that they used to be given I asked the other nurses about it. No one had really ever given one. The nursing supervisor said they worked great but couldn't tell me why. So here is my question...why and how do they work?

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Milk and molasses works as mild stimulant to stimulate bowel peristalsis, evacuate stool and is easy on the bowel lining.

See prior post on subject:

https://allnurses.com/slimeball-enema-urgent-t65477/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-608463

For those patients whose hard stool is just beyond the reach of your glove,and you don't have a sse bag or rectal tube available. Attach a 18 fr or larger foley to end of a fleets enema bottle, lubricate well with water soluble gel, insert tube with rotating motion up past stool as high as it will reach. administer enema up high, try to keep the patient side-lying for 15 min, expect great results.

Brown Cow = M+M = Milk and Molasses Enema

Warm 8oz milk in pan on stove or microwave 1 min. mix in 8 oz molasses. Allow mixture to cool to room temp (test on inside of forearm).

Once cooled, add to enema bag and your ready to go.

Swear too that Brer Rabbit superior to Grandma's molasses and has higher blackstrap molasses content.

[bobnurse]

THink of the molasses as an intestinal convulsant. It causes spasms in the large bowl producing a bowel movement. Its very effective and explosive.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

I have given several of them. It is a old school method of making your patient poop. I reserve this for the last resort only because it can be very messy. It will work wonders for patients that are so constipated they cant see straight. It is probably the best thing I have ever used as a geriatric nurse for constipation.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

The milk probably works as a stimulant for the bowels but the molassis adheres to the stool to bring it down for evacuation.....

[sharann, BSN, RN]

Yes, but I want to know, who was the one who first thouhgt of putting MILK and MOLASSES up their rear ends....

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

One of our ortho resident's said her mom was a nurse and she'd gotten the recipe from her.

I seem to remember it was one carton whole milk warmed and 60cc dark molasses. We used the foley method, but with a catheter tip syringe so it was more like a fleets than a bag enema.

Pad the bed really well and you might want to wear a gown and mask. It is explosive.

[Fonenurse]

Is this evidence based practice? What are the side effects? If your patient is milk or lactose intolerant would they have an anaphyllactic reaction? Have any patients ever had any severe reactions to this practice?

We were always taught in nursing school not to undertake tasks if we were unsure of them - is it wise to give out enemas like this? What is wrong with a sterile mass produced enema that can be prescribed?

[Mommy2Katiebaby]

Fonenurse said:

Is this evidence based practice? What are the side effects? If your patient is milk or lactose intolerant would they have an anaphyllactic reaction? Have any patients ever had any severe reactions to this practice?

We were always taught in nursing school not to undertake tasks if we were unsure of them - is it wise to give out enemas like this? What is wrong with a sterile mass produced enema that can be prescribed?

I dunno about "evidence based," but if you ever give one you will see the evidence, rely upon it. And the major side effect of lactose intolerance / milk allergy is... diarrhea, not anaphylaxis. And enemas rarely need to be sterile, as the lower GI tract certainly is NOT.

[suzanne4, RN]

This has been used for probably more than 100 years, it has been around at least since my grandmother was a little girl.

This was used before any of these companies made the newer things........plus it is 100% natural..........

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Mommy2Katiebaby said:

I dunno about "evidence based," but if you ever give one you will see the evidence, rely upon it. And the major side effect of lactose intolerance / milk allergy is... diarrhea, not anaphylaxis. And enemas rarely need to be sterile, as the lower GI tract certainly is NOT.

suzanne4 said:

This has been used for probably more than 100 years, it has been around at least since my grandmother was a little girl.

This was used before any of these companies made the newer things........plus it is 100% natural..........

When you need DYNAMITE, best and cheepest product around.

Evidenced based practice found in article I posted from Diane Newmann, Adult Incontinence Nurse Practitioner,

:balloons:

[tencat]

Hmmm.........It sure makes me look at molasses in a different light.......and all this time I thought a Brown Cow was a drink you could get in a 50's diner....