Dear Homeopathy Lover,

I would like to tell you about a very important concept in homeopathy: the direction of healing.

When you visit a homeopath for homeopathic treatment, they will ask you many questions beyond the complaints that are troubling you. The reason is both to understand you fully and to have an idea of what may await you on your journey toward healing. Believe me, that is their concern! 😊

What you need to understand is this:

One of the most fundamental criteria is understanding the success of the treatment and, if your symptoms have previously been suppressed, the degree of that suppression. This concept was built upon the fundamental homeopathic philosophy of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, and was later formulated and systematized through the clinical observations of his follower, Dr. Constantine Hering.

Holistic and Simultaneous Healing

In his fundamental works, Organon of Medicine and The Chronic Diseases, Hahnemann does not declare the “direction of healing” as a single rigid rule. However, the following principles can be summarized from his holistic approach:

• Balancing the Vital Force

According to Hahnemann, disease is a disturbance of the dynamic “Vital Force.” True healing does not occur simply by eliminating symptoms locally, but by restoring the vital force from the center.

In other words, the homeopath focuses not on the name of the diagnosed disease, but on supporting the vital force that is expressing itself through that disease. From the classical homeopathic perspective, as the vital force comes into balance, healing may progress in a certain order. It begins to make things better, one by one.

Let me explain what I mean by “one by one”:

• Healing of Internal and External Symptoms Together

Hahnemann states that when the correct remedy (similimum) is selected, both deep disturbances of the internal organs and external symptoms, such as those affecting the skin, should improve as a whole.

He considers clearing the skin through local treatments, such as ointments, to be a potentially dangerous form of “suppression.”

• In Chronic Disease, the Most Recent Symptom Leaves First

During the course of a chronic illness, the symptoms or complaints that appeared most recently are the first to disappear during treatment.

During Treatment

Known in the literature as Hering’s Law of Cure, these systematized principles make the direction of healing easier to understand through three clear points:

1. From Within Outward

To survive, the body directs its energy toward protecting its most critical organs. During the healing process, the mental and emotional layers are relieved first, followed by the vital organs. As treatment progresses, the burden of disease moves toward tissues that are less vital, such as the muscles, joints, or skin.

To put it another way, vital organs and systems such as the brain and nervous system, lungs, heart, and liver begin to heal first, while complaints may change form and move toward the surface — the skin and extremities.

For example, if a patient’s asthma improves and a temporary skin eruption appears, this indicates that the healing process is moving in the right direction.

2. From Above Downward

Symptoms move from the upper parts of the body downward as they disappear.

For example, a headache may resolve and then be followed by knee pain, or a skin eruption may first clear from the face and then move down toward the arms and legs before disappearing completely. This represents the correct direction of healing.

3. In the Reverse Order of Appearance

On a timeline, I like to simplify this as “last in, first out”.

If a patient experienced symptoms in a particular sequence throughout their history, during healing they may experience those symptoms again chronologically, from the most recent back toward the oldest.

A previously suppressed condition, such as childhood eczema, may temporarily reappear during treatment and then resolve.

Suppression and True Healing

Let’s examine the difference between suppression and true healing in homeopathy through a scenario involving the commonly encountered cycle of allergic asthma and eczema.

I believe this example will help explain Hahnemann’s theory of the vital force — which, to make it easier to understand in today’s language, you might compare with the immune system, although it actually means much more than that — as well as Hering’s principles regarding the direction of healing.

First Scenario: Suppression

Suppression occurs when only the superficial symptom is targeted without addressing the root of the illness, causing the disease to be pushed toward deeper and more vital layers of the body.

• Initially, babies may develop severe, itchy eczema or skin eruptions. This is often because their vital force is very strong and prevents the underlying disturbance from affecting vital organs, choosing instead to express the problem through the skin. The skin is the outermost organ and poses the least threat to survival.

• The baby is taken to a doctor and treatments that quickly calm the skin, such as cortisone creams, are prescribed. These treatments can be necessary and helpful under medical supervision, and parents naturally follow their doctor’s advice.

• The visible result is that the redness, itching, discharge or bleeding on the child’s skin seems to disappear. From the classical homeopathic perspective, however, the way the vital force was expressing itself may have been suppressed: the alarm may have been silenced while the fire continues.

• If this suppression continues, several months or years after the skin clears, the child may develop allergic asthma, a condition involving the lungs.

• This process has moved in exactly the opposite direction to Hering’s Law. The disease has moved from the outside inward — from the skin to the lungs — and from a less vital organ toward a more vital one. According to Hahnemann, because the vital force could not expel the disease outward, it was pushed inward toward the center. This is not true healing; it is a deepening of the disease.

Second Scenario: True Healing

Now let us imagine that the same child, who has developed asthma, visits a homeopath and receives the correct homeopathic remedy (similimum) suited to their whole picture.

After the correct remedy, the process begins to move in the opposite direction:

1. Stage — From Within Outward

Shortly after taking the remedy, the patient’s asthma attacks become milder and breathing becomes easier. The lungs, a vital internal organ, are healing.

2. Stage — In the Reverse Order of Appearance

As the asthma improves, the old itchy eczema that disappeared years earlier returns on the child’s arms and legs.

The family may feel worried; from a classical homeopathic perspective, this is seen as a sign that the disease is moving from the inside outward, towards a safer area. Stay in touch with both your homeopath and your doctor during this process.

3. Stage — From Above Downward

The returning eczema may initially appear on the face and neck. Over time, it improves there and then moves down toward the trunk, arms, and finally the ankles before gradually fading away.

In short, healing has occurred from within outward (from the lungs to the skin), from above downward (from the face toward the feet), and in the reverse order of appearance (first the asthma, then the old eczema).

The vital force has moved the threat from the center — the lungs — toward the periphery — the skin — and then completely cleared it from the body.

So, if complaints you had in the past reappear during treatment, share this with your homeopath; for new, severe or worrying symptoms, see your doctor without delay.

I hope that, with an approach that makes space for your body’s wisdom, you will feel more balanced over time.

Wishing you a wonderful life filled with healing and good health...

Hom. Dr. Gamze Arpacı

This article is for information purposes only. Homeopathy is a complementary approach and does not replace medical diagnosis or treatment. Do not stop or change treatment for asthma, eczema or any other condition without speaking to your doctor. Seek medical help without delay if you have difficulty breathing.