RE: Healing Crisis in AP / TCM?

[Guest guest]

Hi All, & Attilio,

 

WWW has many references to a Healing Crisis after AP / herbs /

TCM. See: http://tinyurl.com/56unu and http://tinyurl.com/48ulv

 

" Hering's Law " (or " Law of Cure " ) postulates that S & Ss recur and

disappear of in a precise sequence / progression) after effective

therapy on the way to lasting cure. As Hering was mainly a

homeopath, it was thought initially that this phenomenon (well

established in chronic and serious disease) applied only to

homeopathic medicine.

 

However, the CAM " grapevine " suggests that the " Law of Cure "

may occur in other CAM modalities. See: http://tinyurl.com/6tamr

and http://tinyurl.com/4kzaa

 

There are many references to the " Healing Crisis " in combination

with the " Law of Cure " . See: http://tinyurl.com/4a295

 

HOWEVER, see Eliot Wolfson [Homeopathy Without The Healing

Crisis] at: http://www.theprover.com/article.php4?id=112

 

That is a fascinating article on " homeopathic aggravation " . It says

that such aggravation is NOT needed. Indeed, it is not desirable

because it is a sign that the potency used was too high and

overwhelmed the adaptive capacity of the recipient.

 

Wolfson quotes Hahnemann's later work with LM potencies

(combined high + low potencies) and says that these work FAR

faster and more gently (without the aggravation)

 

I often see exaggeration of existing (presenting) S & Ss for 1-2 days

after AP. Indeed, I PREFER to see immediate IMPROVEMENT,

OR WORSENING of signs, rather that to see no change after AP.

 

However, in >30 years of using AP, I have seen the classical

" Healing Crisis " (with recurrence of OLD signs) only a few times.

 

Maybe both sides of the argument are valid:

 

(a) CAM therapy may trigger an exaggeration ( " Healing Crisis " ),

which often follows Hering's Law of Cure,

 

BUT

 

(b) A more sensitive choice of therapy may prevent the crisis

without compromising final cure, or even reach cure more gently

and efficiently.

 

Best regards,

Phil

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Attilio wrote: Hi Anne, We discussed this some time ago, but there

is no 'healing crisis' in TCM. So what is it then? Does the body get

worse before it gets better? Or is it just clearing itself out of bad

Qi? Was this every detected in ancient China and discussed or

was it simply viewed as part of the getting better stage and so

needed no mention? An interesting topic to debate I think. What do

others have to say about the 'healing crisis' in TCM?

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Nadia <eastdakota wrote: ... my first experience

with acupuncture.. the very first day of my very first treatment, my

acupuncturist - an experienced Chinese woman with a successful

clinic (8 treatment rooms, always packed) and doctorate from

China - former dean of the Yo San clinic in Los Angeles and

instructor at Yo San, made very clear to me that I would be getting

worse before I got better. She did not use the term " healing crisis "

but spent a good deal of time outlining to me what I would

experience in the next couple of weeks. She mentioned that I

would most likely get sick - she predicted a bad cold or flu in the

next week or so, and sure enough, I had a terrible flu about a week

later. Running a temperature of 103 for two days. I hadn't been sick

like that in ten years, and I am definitely not prone to colds and

flus. She described this, that first day, as the toxins being released

from their blockages and circling about the body... another (as I

learned later) non- TCM philosophy. ... I had a remarkably strong

" getting worse " before better that included tremors for weeks,

vertigo and severe emotional upheavals. When I first began my

classes in acupuncture about a year later, I was told that there was

no healing crisis in TCM. So I'm wondering if she mentioned that

out of her own experience or if that was something that was taught

to her formally in China. One day perhaps I will look her up and ask

her. I am a believer in the " healing crisis " . My own experience was

too powerful and too by the book (Hering's Law of Cure) for me to

write it off. However, there may be something to the idea that a

good acupuncturist can stay on top of the rapid changes of the

body and amend the treatments accordingly so as to mediate the

effects. Thanks to Anne for your response to my healing crisis

post. Best, Nadia

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Best regards,

 

Email: <

 

WORK : Teagasc, c/o 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Mobile: 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

 

HOME : 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Tel : 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

WWW : http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/searchap.htm

 

Chinese Proverb: " Man who says it can't be done, should not interrupt man doing

it "

[Guest guest]

Just to follow up, healing crisis or homeopathic aggravation was considered

unnecessary

by Hahnemann in his later writings. My Meridian Therapy teachers in Japan

generally

considered adverse effects to be byproducts of over-aggressive treatment and

usually

advised cutting back the amount of stimulation/treatment to a fraction of that

previously

administered. Even later Koho kampo sensei such as Otsuka have said they

disagree with

the idea that a healing crisis is necessary for a cure.

 

That having been said, in looking into this matter, just by the historical

references i was

able to find:

 

Hahnemann's first Organon: 1810

Herxheimer's first description of the phenomenon which came to bear his name:

1895

 

Yoshimasu Todo's Yakucho: 1771, with Todo citing an unnamed earlier classic on

mengen

reaction.

 

So a concept which is generally dismissed as " Western " can be verified in East

Asia at least

39 years earlier than the most commonly cited works on the subject in the West.

Makes

me go hmmmm...

 

rh