You may have heard of the “The Law of Cure”; the merit for its formulation goes to Dr Constantine Hering, who referred to it as “The Law of Direction of Symptoms”.
His original Law specified the direction of symptoms as:
“From above downwards”.
I learned this as: “Symptoms move from above to below”.
“From within to outwards”.
I learned this as: “The body heals from within to without”.
“From a more important organ to a less important organ”.
I had not been introduced to this one.
“In the reverse order of their coming”.
I learned this as: “Symptoms re-present in reverse chronological order”.
Several commentators contribute to this discussion. For example, Samuel Hahnemann takes as his starting point from the word “Cure”. He offers the thought that perfection of a cure consists of restoring health in a prompt, mild and permanent manner: in removing and annihilating disease by the shortest safest and most certain means. In essence, to restore health, annihilate the whole – not suppress certain symptoms.
Whereas, Dr Paul Carton says it’s not possible to speak of a cure unless the disturbed order has been completely restored in the whole individual, and the symptoms have altogether disappeared.
Acupuncture practitioners know the importance of capturing a detailed Traditional Diagnosis (TD), which provides us with the opportunity to witness how The Law of Cure manifests itself during treatment response. We must remember to be watchful for how this Law manifests, as indicators to our patients return to balance.
Michael Baker Grad Dip (HPE), BAc. MFHT, Dip in Life Coaching.
References
Schmidt, R. (2001 Presented by Cazalet, S.) Hering’s Law of Cure Retrieved from http://www.homeoint.org/cazalet/schmidt/lawofcure.htm