The ileocecal valve is to keep fluid moving in the same direction, and limit the reflux of colonic contents into the ileum. Metaphysically, in moving forward, there is no going back; there is a need to close off from the past. We have gone through a door that has closed. It is not meant to be re-opened.

When the valve leaks backwards into the small intestine, it could indicate that a person keeps revisiting some past event, is living in the past, or doesn’t want to move forward with life. The comfort of the known can be more inviting than the challenges of the unknown.

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks the digestive tract, possibly directed at antigens. The most commonly affected area is where the small and large intestine meet at the ileocecal valve. The dictionary describes valve in the anatomy sense as a flap-like structure that controls the one way passage of fluid through an organ.

Antigens are also involved, and they are a toxin, bacteria or foreign blood cells that stimulate the production of an antibody, which is a blood protein produced in response to a specific antigen. Once antigens and antibodies become involved, consideration must be given to a specific enemy. The antibody never forgets. So, whenever the same enemy (antigen) reappears, a specific defense procedure (antibody) is ready to attack. Similarly a person may never forget their enemy, or what someone has done to them. They may revisit how they feel about it, over and over again, and always be on the defensive.

In more general terms, attention on the immune system infers there is an attack or enemy at hand. The digestive systems relates to being a team player where everyone does their fair share, and valves can be likened to a door which closes off the past.

Read more of my ideas and concepts in Holistic Reflexology, the eight principles.