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Little Joshua had developed eczema not long after birth. Within weeksit had spread from the creases of his elbows and knees to around thefolds of his neck. Now, every time he ate some bread or fruit it flaredaround his mouth and spread across his cheeks. Joshua's eczema was soitchy he would rub and scratch it until it bled. In desperation hismother obtained a script from her doctor for a cortisone-based cream.Miracle of miracles, the eczema began to clear within hours of thecream being applied.

Joshua's mother was understandably delighted but on hearing this story,a homeopath would actually be concerned that future problems would bein store for Josh. Sure enough, two months after the rash had gone, hedeveloped a dry wheezy cough that would not clear. Another visit to thedoctor diagnosed him with asthma and Joshua was commenced on series ofcostly medicines to control his asthma.

Joshua's story is not uncommon but is there something we can learn fromit? Was the eczema really cured? Is there any way he could have avoidedthe asthma? In the last tutorial I spoke about palliation, suppressionand cure and the need to be wise about the way we treat our symptoms.In this tutorial I will explain about the "direction of cure" and howto recognise when it is happening to you.

 

The Direction of Cure - What is It?

In the early days ofHomeopathy, practitioners collected a group of observations thatidentified when true healing was taking place and when symptoms weremerely being palliated or suppressed, leading to worsening health.These observations were compiled in a statement called "The Directionof Cure" that homeopaths have referred to ever since. It says that curetakes place:
  • From above down,
  • From within out,
  • From a more important organ to a less important organ,
  • With symptoms disappearing in the reverse order of their appearance (occasionally, there will be a ROOS but this will be dealt with in another tutorial).

When symptoms progress according to these directions, cure is takingplace. If they move opposite to these directions, the homeopath andtheir patient should be aware that suppression is taking place and thathealth is worsening. Let me explain these concepts further.

From Above Down

Healing is heading in the right directionif symptoms such as skin rashes or joint pains move down the body asthey improve during the course of treatment. Symptoms improving upwardsthrough the body indicate that suppression is probably taking place.

From Within Out

When symptoms move from deeper to more surfaceorgans during treatment, such as a liver infection changing to musclepains, then changing to itchiness of the skin, the patient andpractitioner can be confident that healing is underway. Symptoms movinginwards however, indicate the reverse is happening - the person isbecoming sicker.

From a More Important Organ to a Less Important Organ

The person whose high blood pressure and chest pains are replaced bysinus problems during treatment is heading towards health - thesymptoms have moved from a more important organ to a less importantorgan. With further treatment, the sinus problem will also improve. Theperson whose sinus symptoms are exchanged for heart problems followingcontinual suppression by antibiotics and antihistamines, is becomingsicker - symptoms are moving in the wrong direction.

Symptoms Disappearing in the Reverse Order of Their Appearance

The previous two observations show how symptoms move from the exteriorof the body as health worsens, to the interior; the Vital Force,weakened by age, suppression, or an unhealthy lifestyle is unable tokeep them at bay. Skin problems, for example, can become respiratoryproblems that can then lead to heart problems, and so on. It happensall the time. If the unwell person is treated according to the Law ofSimilars with medicines that match their symptoms rather than suppressthem, their vitality can be strengthened and the imbalance corrected;their symptoms will disappear in the reverse order of their appearance,the heart complaint being the first to go and the skin problem thelast.

Do All the Observations Have Equal Value?

While Direction ofCure observations provide guidelines of when health is improving andwhen it is worsening, they do not all have equal value. The first threeare seen less frequently and the fourth, more frequently. In reality,it is possible for a person's symptoms to just gradually improveoverall during the course of homeopathic treatment without followingthe strict progression of any of the above observations. Perhaps theirreal value is that they accurately identify worsening health whensymptoms move in the reverse of what they state. When this happens,alarm bells should ring.

What about Joshua?

As we have learnt in this and pasttutorials, our life force will try to push the disease to the outsideof the body when we first become unwell to protect deeper, more vitalorgans from harm. For this reason infants such as Joshua, with theirnormally strong vitality, will develop skin complaints such as eczemaand rashes during the first stages of an energetic imbalance.

If these skin problems are suppressed by creams or steroids or ifvitality weakens, the Vital Force will no longer be able to relieve thedisease through the skin and so will use one of the deeper organs as anoutlet to preserve life. This is exactly what happened to Joshua. Ashis skin problem was suppressed by a cortisone cream, it was replacedwith the more life-threatening problem of asthma.

If the vitality was to weaken further or the new symptoms againsuppressed, the illness would move to deeper organs such as the bowel,the kidney, the heart or the brain. Sometimes this progression happensrapidly but more often it is a gradual process that occurs over decadesas suppression after suppression worsens health and creates deepeninglevels of chronic disease. Fortunately, Joshua's mother brought him infor a homeopathic consultation before this happened.

In treating Joshua, I prescribed a homeopathic medicine that matchedthe physical, mental and emotional symptoms of his imbalance. Withintwo weeks his asthma had improved significantly but the eczema hadstarted to return. Concerned, Joshua's mother brought him back to me. Iexplained that this was not a set-back but a sign of deep healing. Iadvised her to wait a little longer, confident that the asthma wouldsoon clear, closely followed by the eczema - and this is exactly whathappened except for one small incident.

Joshua's dad decided to give him a bath one night, while his mother wasout. He added bubble bath mixture to the water to make it fun butwithin minutes Joshua's eczema flare and started to spread across hisbody. Alarmed, his father applied the cortisone cream to the rash andover the next few hours it began to settle. The following day, theasthma was back with a vengeance.

Joshua's mum phoned in a panic to tell me the story. Iexplained how the bubble bath had irritated the eczema that had thenbeen suppressed by the cream. Without an outlet to the skin, thedisease was redirected into Joshua's lungs - a far more seriousconcern. I reassured his mother that the correct homeopathic remedywould once again strengthen Joshua's vitality to resolve the asthma andreturn the eczema to the skin. This is exactly what happened over thefollowing week.

Joshua continued to have homeopathic treatment for another twomonths during which time the eczema cleared completely. He is nowasthma-free and full of energy. His parents have trouble keeping upwith him.

In Conclusion - Potentised Remedies Can Suppress!

The lasttwo tutorials have spoken a lot about suppression. Hopefully, it issomething you have decided not to do with your symptoms. When we thinkof suppression, we usually think of it being the result of chemicalmedicines and their toxic side effects. While potentised remedies arefree of chemicals and therefore free of the toxic side effects normallyassociated with conventional medicines, few people realise thatpotentised remedies can also suppress unless they are prescribedaccording to the Law of Similars. This will be the topic of the nexttutorial when we look at how to use the Direction of Cure to tell ifyour potentised remedy, or treatments from any other therapy, are trulytaking you to cure or just suppressing your symptoms.
 
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