The Homeopathic Healing Reaction
What is a Healing Reaction?
In a nutshell we call a healing reaction the symptoms experienced by patients as a result of the body’s healing process once disease has been removed.
Our system is always intent on maintaining balance in all its functions. When something stresses the body it immediately compensates by altering some functions. At this time we may not experience symptoms but maybe some increase in stress.
Healing actually involves most symptoms like swellings, fevers, discharges and…pain! Since we are unhappy with these sensations we rush to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with us. In other words we have learned to equate disease with discomfort and visible symptoms and healing with the end of pain and disappearance of symptoms.
It is important to understand the processes of disease and healing in order to alleviate our fears of symptoms. If we understand that healing will produce suffering – as blood rushes to repair tissue after a process of deterioration has ended, as fevers rise to scorch viruses, as discharges appear and with them - the related bacteria – all part of a process of cleaning up the debris from the battle field. All the above and many more are indications of healing and not a threat of disease.
Homeopaths are notoriously fond of skin rashes as a sign of healing progressing in the right direction – from inside out, from the more vital internal organs to the surface. A vibrant healthy system will try to isolate disease as far away from the noble organs as possible, so as not to endanger vital functions of the liver, kidneys, heart…The skin is the best place for disease to be held at bay and that is where the first indications of a deeper disturbance will appear – as a rash, an inflammation of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract (congestion, cough) or of the mucosa of the digestive system (stomach upsets) for example.
Most diseases (excluding physical accidents and injuries) begin with a disturbance to our nerve-sense system or to our emotional state. Initially all we experience is stress and emotional tension. If we cannot resolve our conflict for a long period of time, the continuous tension and the related functional deviations needed to cope with the distress (muscle tension, high adrenalin, thyroid hormone output, increased acidity in the body, etc.) - these alterations in function eventually trickle down to the physical body.
Healing, the same as disease, also begins at the level of thought and emotion. Once the problematic conflict is resolved and we stop sending distress signals to our body, our system initiates healing which proceeds, as in the case of disease, in the direction of the physical level – functions are reversed and corrected to their normal levels and slowly tissue damage is reversed – if there was any.
So, to summarize, healing proceeds from the mental/ emotional level to the physical level, from the deeper organs to the more superficial, from above downwards on the body, as is often seen in rashes or muscle and joint pain.
What is typical of the healing process?
After taking a remedy we usually experience improvement at the mental/emotional level – a sense of well-being, peacefulness or increased energy, better memory or focus. Since improvement first affects the inner organs, even if you have some symptoms, at a deeper level you will feel stronger. Many people describe the sensation as that of observing theirhealing reaction from a ‘safe”place inside their body.
The typical symptoms of a healing reaction fall into two categories: old symptoms that remind us of what was just cured (for example tooth sensitivity when an old dental procedure was treated) or symptoms related to the cleansing of the body from dead cells, bacteria, and other debris that is now released after the disease was removed, in the form of nasal congestion, skin rashes, aches caused usually by inflammation.
As far as the timing of it all – it can vary from one patient to another, but we have observed that usually the body responds to the remedy immediately with an initial improvement in the condition. After a few days though the cleansing begins and after 10-14 days we start experiencing the first symptoms of the healing reaction, with a brief worsening, usually physical (although it will still be better than at the start of treatment) and in some cases with a drop in energy. This can last for 1-3 days and then we return to the improved state prior to the healing reaction.
Some patients experience the healing reaction 2-3 days after taking the timeline remedy, then an improvement, and then at day 10-14 a brief cleansing period perhaps with a final improvement after that.
It has been observed by many wise people that pain is doubled by our fears. Suffering is also increased by focusing too much attention on the affected area or organ. There are a variety of techniques to reduce pain and to divert our attention while our body heals. With the help of remedies and nature, the healing process will progress faster and better if we keep a positive attitude, pamper ourselves in order to get relief and weather this temporary stage the best we can.
True healing is the beginning of our personal journey
We have learned to equate health with lack of [mostly visible!] symptoms. But more often than not disease is hidden elsewhere – in emotional stress, lack of stamina, confusion and boredom in life. Modern medicine offers drugs to help hide the obvious signs of discord. Health is equated with a magazine image and story to go with it…
But true health is much more than that – it is having interests in life and enjoying them, having the energy to pursue fulfilling tasks, feeling secure in ourselves so that we can enjoy our relationship with others, a sense of inner balance and of being full with life, an ease of movement and a natural inclination to pursue our dreams and happiness.
To achieve that we embark on this journey – a journey that takes us back in time for a brief re-visiting of old traumas and which gives us the yearned for second chance – a chance to re-evaluate old traumatic events, find meaning in them, and restore our innate sense of self. As such, this journey may involve some purging and cleansing, some detoxing (both physical and emotional) and certainly a closer inspection of life-long beliefs that may or may not be ours to hold…