You’re probably wondering who we are and why we have a colic website. We – David L. Sharp, M.D., retired Board-Certified Family Physician, and Barbara J. Sharp, B.S., Health Educator – have a persisting thesis.
We believe that we have rediscovered the two causes and one simple cure for CONSTIPATIVE COLIC, a name that we’ve coined to describe what is happening with some colicky babies, and to distinguish it from other causes of infant distress and crying. A Mayo Clinic newsletter on Infant and Toddler Health “decoded the tears:” “I’m hungry,” “I want to suck on something,” “I’m lonely,” “I’m tired,” “I’m wet,” “I want to move,” “I’d rather be bundled,” “I’m hot or cold,” “I’ve had enough,” and so on.
But the insistent and persistent wailing of a colicky infant is most likely due to PAIN. And, that pain and inconsolable crying can cause great anxiety and stress to parents, family and neighbors. We feel that we must do something to help the colicky baby and his/her family.
At this point – almost 50 years into our journey with infant colic – we feel even more strongly that our thesis is valid, and we want to share our thoughts and findings and encourage everyone – parents and professionals – in alleviating this worldwide problem.
Dr. Sharp’s personal story: I wasn’t taught about infant colic during medical school or residency, so my first two colicky baby experiences were quite dramatic. I was following my medical training and instincts in doing what seemed best for my patients. Colicky babies seemed to be expressing pain from constipation, and the results of rectal examinations verified that suspicion, sometimes in dramatic fashion! For the next 13 years I only performed rectal exams on symptomatic infants that I had delivered, always with positive relief to the infants and their families. In 1987 my colleagues in gastroenterology assured me that I was doing no harm in examining babies’ ano-rectal canals. With parents’ permission, I then performed digital rectal exams (DRE) on 7 or 8 normal babies that I had delivered. What a difference! Normal exams offered normal resistance, compared to the abnormal tightness I had previously found in colicky babies’ ano-rectal canals. That tightness, I had come to realize, was caused by either a partially-blocking membrane or excessive sphincter muscle tone or mass, with increased resistance. This was before Google, so Barbara and I went to the medical library in search of reasons for the abnormal findings in colicky babies. We found the answers in the embryology literature, and corresponded with a noted embryologist of that time, Edmund S. Crelin, D.Sc. of Yale Medical School. In 1992 I even had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Morris Wessel of “Wessel’s Colic” fame. Since then we have traced the literature on colic caused by “rectal stricture” to 1851 by back-checking the references cited in articles. I have personal copies of all the original articles I have quoted in my two books. Recent major confirmation has come from translating the 1851 thesis of French surgeon, Dr. Frederic Etienne Bouisson. The classic colic literature clearly reveals that the cause and cure of infant colic caused by basic rectal stenosis has been known for a long time! We have started using the more descriptive term “constipative colic” to define what’s wrong with some colicky babies, and hope that name catches on with troubled families and their healthcare providers, to separate “curable” crying babies from all other causes of infant crying. Strangely, the cause and cure of constipative colic seems a mystery today. We hope to dispel that mystery. Join us on our journey of rediscovery and “connecting the dots” between embryology, color-rectal surgery literature and colicky infants…
Barbara Sharp’s personal story: I met Dave the night before his first day at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. We fell in love through letters that fall of 1963. I met his cadaver, and Dave was amazed that I named her muscles and bones. My degree from Slippery Rock University was in Health & Physical Education. We married the following spring. He studied and learned, and I taught those four years while Dave was in med school. He chose to become a family physician. I chose to become a mother of 4 children. We had a home office many of the following years. On the Sunday our third child was to be dedicated to the Lord, he hadn’t pooped for a few days and, being concerned, I gave him a suppository that morning before church. As we returned to our pew it all let loose, filling both legs of his outfit. Yes, he was a little backed up! Thus, our stories of babies with colic began – we just didn’t know it then. I believed in Dave’s theory and celebrated his “colic cures” with him. Years later when I saw the article on the cover of Parents magazine in the grocery store, I thought “they too” had discovered our belief that there was a cause for colic and something you could do to help it. No such luck! That sent us to the hospital library to do research on our experiences. When I saw Frank Netter’s illustrations on defects of the anal canal, I was convinced that we were onto something. My concern continues to be for the parents of a colicky baby, and the pain that baby feels remains our motivation. I said, “We need to do something!” This website is our way of getting our hypothesis of rediscovery out to the world. It just made sense to me that “what goes in the mouth has to come out the butt.” And if that doesn’t happen easily, one should examine the opening. After reading our story please tell others. Let’s go viral with this!! This is Good News. We are thankful to Jesus for giving us insight, courage and passion for helping infants with colic.