The Healing Crisis

Symptoms which often are mistaken for diseases, but which actually are the body’s attempts to cleanse itself, are the “healing crisis”. Most illnesses, if properly treated, evolve into a healing crisis. Many times, healing crises are mis-diagnosed as the action of a foreign agent on the body. The common cold is one of the best examples of this mechanism. When the system becomes full of waste, a cleansing mechanism stimulates the elimination organs to clean house. The urine becomes cloudy or dark; the bowels move loosely; there is nausea, the lungs and sinuses excrete mucus; and the skin emits an offensive smell, along with a rash or pimples; a fever might occur; there may be muscle spasms, headaches, flu-like symptoms or even nightmares. This is the healing crisis. The body is trying to eliminate some of the morbid matter that has accumulated over the years. That is precisely why, in spite of millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man hours, modern science has been unable to pinpoint a specific agent responsible for the common cold.
Why, then, do we frequently get colds after being exposed to severe weather or stressful situation? This is because cleansing is a “reactive” mechanism like adrenaline, which responds to danger by producing an instantaneous “flight or fight” response. Germs can be likened to maggots-both are parasites and both live in waste matter. If a trash can becomes filthy and is not regularly cleaned, maggots will “appear”. (Flies are around us all the time, just like germs, but they lay eggs only in decaying organic matter.)

According to modern medical thinking, there are two “cures” for a can of maggots. The first is to spray the contents with an insect killer. This is equivalent to antibiotic therapy. All it does is temporarily suppress the maggot population. As soon as new trash is thrown into the can, or the bug killer wears off, the larvae will return, resulting in chronic maggot infestation,

Whenever adversity is encountered-be it stress, infection, exposure to weather, or dramatic dietary changes-the body immediately tries to deal with the looming difficulty. An encumbered, overloaded body won’t work efficiently until the trash is removed. When the floodgates open, the “stuff” comes pouring out. We can clearly see the difference between disease and the healing crisis.
Disease occurs when the body is not capable of eliminating waste or toxins. It results in tissue degeneration. During the healing crisis, toxins are eliminated more rapidly than they can accumulate. This is valid regardless of the source of toxins-be they normal metabolic by-products; wastes from bacteria, or parasites; or elements derived from the food or environment. Then the healing crisis begins. If the pathways for elimination are blocked, disease or degeneration sets in. This blockage is often caused by drugs (and certain herbs) which dry up the mucus, stop the diarrhea, kill the fever or sweating, or change the kidney function.

When drugs are used, symptoms of the healing crisis are suppressed and the patient believes (s)he is cured. Actually, the stage has been set for a more serious condition. This is evident when the patient feels more vitality after the healing crisis than he did before. If the symptoms are suppressed and a decease cycle is established, the patient will feel progressively less vital in the days and months following recovery.
It is easy to see the difference between chronic and acute disease. We can also understand the dramatic upsurge of chronic diseases that were acute prior to “modem medicine”. An acute disease is generally a healing crisis triggered by one or more parasites or bacillus trying to set up house keeping in an organ or area where waste has accumulated. A chronic disease is usually the body’s continuing attempt to bring about a healing crisis. It may result in the destruction of body parts caused by uneliminated wastes. (Nutritional deficiencies also figure in here.) If the symptoms rather than the cause are battled, and if the maggots are killed but the trash can is not emptied, acute disease will almost always become chronic.

Where do herbs fit into all this? The role of herbs becomes evident when we understand that the body will always try to heal itself, but that it occasionally encounters obstacles to that process. These obstacles may be lowering of the vital energies; a physical obstruction such as bowel impaction (constipation) or kidney stone; a deficiency of certain compound or element; or general poisoning of the system with chemicals, drugs, mucus, etc. Herbs do not heal. Herbs can assist the body to overcome the aforementioned obstacles, so that the vital force of the body itself may affect healing.
In the healing crisis, herbs can be used to help dissolve and drain systemic poisons or obstructions. With actual disease, herbs may help to bring about a healing crisis, thus detoxifying the diseased tissue and increasing the quality and flow of nutrients to needy tissues.
The runny nose is an indication of mucus build-up that the body is trying to eliminate. If the nose cannot drain, the body will probably attempt a more severe manner to eliminate the mucus. Or the mucus may become a fine home and meal for a flu or pneumonococcus.
The prescribed herbal therapy, depending upon an analysis of the eliminative systems, would help the body eliminate its toxins. This would prevent the dramatic cessation of symptoms and would leave the patient with more energy and vitality.
Fighting symptoms is not what healing people is all about. Symptoms are signals from the body one should not suppress or ignore. We should try to understand their message. If someone is screaming because a large rock has fallen on his foot, the proper therapy is not to put a gag on his mouth. Removing the rock from the foot is the only way to genuinely start the healing process.

Written in part by Thomas Hartmann

Many Health Practitioners today are finally beginning to understand the body disease healing process as not a bad thing but a good thing not to be feared. Some are saying that the detoxification process may even temporarily cause high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, anemia, backaches, stomach trouble and neuralgia. Everyone, they say, experiences different improvement reactions, and it’s hard to state who will go through which symptoms and when. These symptoms may even occur several times throughout the detoxification healing process.

The big problem is that most people generally continue with the same eating patterns compounded with symptoms chasing drug therapy that causes these symptoms the end tragically.

The prevailing sentiment among many health practitioners is that the stronger your improvement reaction the greater the healing effect.

Needle Prick/Headache                                                               Nervous System Improvement

Dizziness, Chest Congestion, Pounding Heart                        Coronary Improvement

Phlegm, Dry Throat                                                                       Bronchial Tube and/or Asthma Improv.

Bloody and/or Runny Nose                                                          Emphysema Improvement

Diarrhea                                                                                            Intestinal Infection Improvement

Fatigue, Indifference, Agitation                                                   Coronary Improvement

Side Aches                                                                                         Spinal Realignment

Fatigue/Red Spots                                                                           Liver Improvement

Swelling of Feet and Hand/Dark Urine                                      Kidney Improvement

Stomach Ache, Vomit                                                                     Gastric Ulcer Improvement

Increase of Blood Pressure, Bloody Nose                                   High Blood Pressure Improvement

Vomit                                                                                                  Low Blood Pressure Improvement

Body Aches without other symptoms                                          General Health Improvement

Loss of appetite                                                                                 Pancreatic Improvement

Dandruff, Swelling                                                                            Head Detox

Skin Irritation                                                                                    Skin Condition Improvement

Discharge of Blood(Female)                                                           Uterus Improvement

Continuous Pain                                                                                Arthritic Improvement

Back Pain (3-7 Days)                                                                        Spinal Realignment