Symptoms are key to treatment in Homeopathy just as they are in orthodox (allopathic) medicine, but the interpretation is different. Winston Churchill once said that “Jaw, Jaw is better than War, War” and I suggest that his sentiment has some relevance in the practice of medicine.
Symptoms are symptoms but the interpretation can be different.
Take a look at any text on modern drug classes and you can clearly see that modern western medicine is on a war footing. There are anti-biotics; anti-depressants; anti-fungals; anti-inflammatories; anti-virals…just as we have anti-aircraft; anti-tank; anti-personnel and so on.
This is “War, War”.
Clearly modern pharmaceuticals are effective, but they are not always curative in the long term. There is quite a queue in my local chemist for repeat prescriptions ..
Most modern drugs have not been around that long, the first antibiotics only appeared in the 1930s. We tend to forget that.
Yet mankind has suffered sickness, for thousands of years…and been healed. Naturopathic and hydropathic “cures” were once the norm..at least for those who could afford it. Not that such treatments were always successful either.
Let’s be honest, symptoms are inconvenient at best, and often worse – so a magic bullet has much in its favour – especially in an impatient age.
The trouble is that the “enemy’s” protest may have virtue. Perhaps a little “jaw jaw” might bring about a longer lasting peace?
Of course to “jaw jaw” you have to understand the language.
Symptoms are the body’s language. The attempt of the body to cure itself.
Easier then to shoot first, and ask questions later! This is suppression.
But what if the “enemy” regroups and shoots back. An uneasy truce might be the best result.
Homeopathy is “Jaw, Jaw” medicine. It is guided by the “Law of Similars” – often simplified to “like cures like”. Homeopathically this means finding the medicine that best imitates the symptom picture.
The subject is covered in more detail in this article by the late Dr Stuart Close:
The general philosophy in homeopathy, naturopathy, and other traditional / complementary therapies is that the body tells you what it needs to cure itself.
Therefore, rather than supressing the symptoms, they should be encouraged. A sort of swords into ploughshares approach!
Here is a simple example:
Gelsemium, homeopathically prepared from a plant of the same name, has particular characteristics that come from “proving” the medicine on healthy people, knowledge of its herbal properties, clinical experience and so on.
Students of homeopathy learn the phrase “droopy, drowsy and dull”, as the Gelsemium symptoms are just that:
It is one of a number of medicines that have helped Covid patients – but ONLY if their symptom picture matches. The remedy stimulates an immune response that reinforces the action of the body and speeds up cure.
It is a useful remedy which you will surely find in any homeopathic first aid kit, such as shown in one of my recent blogs
*Interestingly it is said that, Gelsemium – presumably in herbal form – was once used to instil fearlessness in soldiers . In truth this “courage” was more likely to be loss of fear through instilled apathy (what do I care if I live or die…)
Disclaimer: I am a qualified professional homeopath and not a medical doctor. The NHS has many resources, and seeking the opinion of your GP is always of value.
Dibden Purlieu, Southampton