“Growth, development and cure are centrifugal and never centripetal”- H.A. Roberts.

Herings law of cure

Herig’s law of cure is famous as the “Second Law of Cure” in homoeopathy.

It is also known as “The Law of Direction of Cure”.

Dr. Constantine Hering who is the “Father of American Homoeopathy” introduced this law to us.

Read the Journey of Dr. C Hering towards homoeopathy and how these laws came into existence here, (BIOGRAPHY OF Dr. CONSTANTINE HERING).

Hering’s direction of cure helps us to observe the direction in which the symptoms of the patient should disappear while under a homoeopathic treatment.

According to this law, cure takes place with disappearance of the symptoms from,

  • Above-downwards
  • Inside-outwards
  • From more important organs to less important one
  • Symptoms disappear in the reverse order of their appearance (the first appeared symptoms disappears at last).

This means that simply the disappearance of symptoms cannot be considered as an ideal cure. Cure has to follow certain direction.

Some of these directions appears to be confusing to the homoeopaths.

Herings law of cure

How can we decide which are the less important organs and which are the more important organs?

What is the right direction and what are the wrong directions of cure?

Examples

1. A case with chronic complain of heartburn or acidity in stomach disappears after homoeopathic treatment and tingling numbness in hands takes place.

So what direction, whether inside-out is right? or its from less important organ stomach to more important system (nervous system) is wrong direction?

2. A case of asthma followed by catarrh of chest then dry cough and then by sneezing- what should we interpret?

Down-upwards, is that a wrong direction? or from inside-out a right direction?

These and many other examples lead us to confusion and ultimately, we neglect the laws of direction of cure.

This lawless homoeopathic practice causes lack of confidence among homeopaths.

We underestimate the scope of homoeopathy and unfortunately homoeopathy has become an auxiliary medicinal therapy.

Homoeopathy seems to be used only when no immediate risk to life is involved.

Read the SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF HOMOEOPATHY here.

This is because of our ignorance or lack of knowledge of medical sciences.

The study of our human anatomy, physiology, bio-chemistry, genetics, pharmacology, practice of medicine, pathology, microbiology etc. was mostly exam oriented.

Most homoeopaths end up doing wrong homoeopathic practice, multiple drugs at a time, mixing of specific remedies, applying wrong principles while prescribing etc.

Remember that anything and everything that is happening inside the living organism whether it is a cure or a disease are the result of development or degeneration.

There is certain “ORDER IN DISORDER” says Dr. Praful Vijaykar.

In order to understand Hering’s law of cure we must consider the importance of medical sciences in homoeopathic practice.

We all have heard that, “Homoeopathy treats the man in disease but not the disease in man”.

So, if we want to treat a MAN we must understand,

  • What are we made up of (Knowledge of Anatomy)?
  • How our bodily systems work (Knowledge of Physiology)?
  • What are the internal mechanisms that keeps us alive (Knowledge of Physiology, Bio-chemistry and Genetics)?
  • How do we get diseased (Knowledge of Pathology, Medicine, Microbiology etc.)?

If we understand all of these, we also can cure a person in disease.

Herings law of cure

A single-celled amoeba obtains nutrients and oxygen directly from its surrounding medium and eliminates unwanted wastes back in those surroundings.

We human beings are multicellular living organisms.

Just like amoeba, a single muscle cell or any other cell in our body has the same need of nutrients and O₂ with elimination of wastes.

But muscle cell is isolated far from external environment that surround our body. So how can it make life-supporting exchanges with external environment when it has no direct contact with it?

The solution is the presence of watery internal environment.

The fluid that surrounds each cell in our body (Extra Cellular Fluid/ECF) makes it possible to exchange life supporting materials.

Herings law of cure

Note:

  • Extra cellular fluid (ECF) is outside the cell but inside the body
  • ECF= Plasma (Fluid portion of blood) + Interstitial fluid (Fills narrow space between cells)
  • Fluid inside the cell body is called intra cellular fluid (ICF).

Digestive system receives nutrients from external environment and transfers them into the plasma.

Respiratory system transfers O₂ from external environment into the plasma.

Circulatory system thoroughly mixes and distributes these nutrients and O₂ throughout the body.

Exchange happens between plasma and interstitial fluid across the capillaries.

From interstitial fluid body cells picks up the nutrients and O₂ obtained from external environment.

This is how each body cell gets its needed supplies.

 Likewise, waste products after cellular metabolism are released into the interstitial fluid.

Wastes are picked up by plasma and transported to the organs that are specialized in eliminating waste products from internal environment to external environment.

Lungs remove CO₂ and water vapor from plasma via expiration

Kidneys remove liquid waste via urine formation

Large intestine eliminates solid wastes

Liver breaks down excess amino acids and toxins

Skin discards excess water and salts via sweat

These nutritive gradients help in eliminating toxins from the deeper tissues and organs. All these excretions of toxins and wastes happens from above downwards, from inside out, from more important organs to less import organs, from center to periphery.

This is how our internal environment remains relatively stable. Our body’s ability to maintain homeostasis gives it tremendous healing power along with great resistance to stresses.

As long as our body’s-controlled conditions are maintained (within certain narrow limits) body cells function intelligently and we stay healthy.

For most of us, lifelong good health is not something that can happen effortlessly as many factors are included in this:

  • Our environment
  • The way we behave into the environment
  • Our genetic make-up
  • The food we eat
  • The thoughts we think.

The way we live our life can either support or interfere with our bodily ability to maintain health and recover from an unavoidable stress that life throws our way.

But many years of poor health behavior interferes with body’s natural drive to maintain homeostasis.

If the homeostatic imbalance is moderate, disease or disorder may occur and if it’s severe death may happen.

We recognize this imbalanced state as an impaired immunity

E.g.; A person with impaired immunity of respiratory system may develop tendency to cold, catarrh, cough frequently or if the impaired immunity shifts to urinary tract, he/she may suffer from diseases related to urinary tract.

Dr. Prafull Vijaykar in his theory of suppression explains that,

Homoeopathic remedies act on the body to increase the nutritive gradients by adjusting the electrical potentials, which should be higher in the more important tissues like heart, brain or lungs to the lowest outside on the skin“.

If the electrical potential on the skin is lower, the elimination of toxins gets better.

So, anything that raises the skin electrical potential may interrupt the excretion process via skin. Therefore, any type of local applications be it antibiotics, antifungals, anti-inflammatory or aesthetic ointments may intervene with actions of homoeopathic remedies.

WHAT PATH THE NUTRITIVE GRADIENT TAKES TO ESTABLISH CURE?

To understand this, we should know about what path the disease takes to progress in the organs and systems.

Here, the knowledge of embryology comes handy because once we learn about which organs are derived from what embryological tissues, we can clearly understand that which organs are more important and what are less important.

Look at the chat below…

LAYERS-OF-SUPPRESSION-BY-VIJAYKAR

Cellular toxins are pushed higher and higher through these seven layers as disease progresses.

Every time when a disease is suppressed, the toxins are pushed upwards.

This transport is done with the help of cell membrane proteins.

As it is against of nutritive gradient, it requires ATP.

The stored energy in the form of ATP that was supposed to be used for natural activities of the cell gets used up.

Result is weakness

“Any treatment that is followed by weakness leads to suppression”.

Read SUPPRESSION IN HOMOEOPATHY here, you should also take a look at DIFFRENCE BETWEEN PALLIATION AND SUPPRESSION

In the same way, any treatment that produces a general sense of wellbeing leads to cure (by pushing the toxins downwards and by enhancing previously existing nutritive gradients).

If we select a remedy that is only partially similar to the disease may remove the symptoms but produces weakness.

Only a right constitutional similimum can remove disease and improve general stamina.

So, DESIRE TO WORK, STAMINA TO WORK and PERFORMING DAILY CHORES COMFORTABLY are the most important parameters in homoeopathic treatment.