As these substances are ejected out of the tissues, they are dumped into the system making the body temporarily more toxic until they can be excreted. This is partly what produces the symptom of the healing reaction. The effect is accentuated by the body’s process of tearing apart defective tissue, repairing damaged cells, destroying parasites or ineffective agents, and otherwise producing debris from the re-construction. I find that the more severe the individual’s condition (the more toxic his or her body is), the stronger will be the healing reaction. Because the healing reaction is caused by the flushing of toxins out of the cells, the strength of the reaction also depends on how careful the individual is following the recommended program. The more correctly the program is followed, the stronger will be the healing reaction.

WHY OLD SYMPTOMS COME BACK

Often in the course or the healing process, old symptoms temporarily reappear. Why should people have to go back through these old problems in the course of getting better? I believe the specific symptoms that a person experiences at any time, depend on the balance among the various biochemical substances in the body. For example, when a person is perfectly healthy, there is a certain ratio between substance "A" and substance "B" in the tissues. When that ratio gets out of balance to a certain degree, the person may feel fatigue; when the balance is greater, a headache may occur; when it is still greater, the person may develop insomnia and so on. One reason people must re-experience symptoms as they get healthier, is that in order to progress from say 100:1 imbalance to a 1:1 balance, they have to go through 99:1, 98:1 and so forth. As they go through each phase, they experience the symptoms associated with that particular level of imbalance. Biochemist John Eck has pursued a similar line of thought in his research on mineral nutrients. Using hair analyses Eck has suggested the optimal levels for some of the principal minerals in the body. On the basis of the ratio among these minerals, Eck is able to estimate how effectively the thyroid and adrenal glands are functioning and hence to predict an individual’s metabolic energy level.

Of course in actuality a person’s symptoms would not depend on the ratio between just two substances, but among hundreds of different things. If a person gets stuck at the same level, he will get stuck in the symptoms of that level. This helps explain the basis of the chronic illnesses for which so many people suffer. I like to picture the healing process as going up a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs, the energy is balanced, all of the nutrients are present in their proper ratios, and the body is functioning properly. When someone’s health begins to deteriorate, he or she moves down the stairs. At each step along the way he or she experiences a special kind of symptom, perhaps less energy at one step, headaches a little further down, an ulcer still further and so on. As the body begins to heal itself once again, the person begins to move back up the stairs, and re-experiences the symptoms associated with these various levels of health.

The experience of one of my clients illustrates how difficult the healing process can be. When Mona first came into my office, she hobbled along on a cane, moving with difficulty and in constant pain. Her arthritis had developed rapidly and she looked ten years older then she was. In spite of the hopeless prognosis she had received from numerous professionals, Mona was a fighter and determined to overcome her affliction. Her high motivation level helped her follow the program we worked out for her.

Now only a year later Mona is almost over the arthritis. She threw away her cane a month ago. The transformation was not an easy process. In the course of healing her body, Mona experienced a lengthy series of symptoms, which most people, unaware of the healing process, would have interpreted as getting sicker. Mona had very low energy for a long time. And at times she had severely swollen ankles, which would drive most people to their physicians for painkillers and tranquilizers. She had been warned, however, that she would re-experience many symptoms from years before. Soon she discovered that these symptoms abated and the affected body part became as good as new.

DRUGS THAT BLOCK PAIN - MAY ALSO BLOCK HEALING

Experiencing such healing reactions can be very distressing for many people. We are taught in our society that symptoms are somehow bad. Although it is tempting to take pain killers, antihistamines, or other drugs, when uncomfortable symptoms occur in the course of healing, it is very important to follow the prescribed program correctly, and to do nothing to interfere with the healing process. If an individual went through a period of pain, taking painkillers or other drugs to relieve the symptoms, they were actually prolonging the discomfort. You see aspirin and antihistamines work by blocking the prostaglandin (chemical substances found throughout the body, which regulate many body functions and metabolic processes). Generally the prostaglandin works in opposing pairs. One, for example, may produce inflammation and swelling, in response to specific stimulus, while the other un-does these reactions. When a person takes aspirin or an antihistamine to stop an uncomfortable reaction, he or she may not experience the pain or inflammation, but he or she does not get the healing process the un-does the reason for the pain and inflammation. He or she has achieved a stalemate rather than a cure.

One of my clients, Alice, has many years history of pain, and is now going through a lot of healing reactions, including "spasms" in her digestive system. Although I have explained to Alice that she must go though the painful symptoms in order to be cured, she insists that something must be wrong. When she has pain, she stops taking her supplements and uses medication to reduce her spasm. It isa real dilemma for her because she really is in pain. She believes that it is not good to experience pain. Unfortunately, by blocking the pain with inappropriate medication, she is keeping herself from getting healed. And so she is going back and forth, keeping herself at precisely the level where she is bound to have the pain.

SOME NATURAL WAYS TO EASE HEALING REACTIONS

When healing reactions are very troublesome, we can usually do something to help. Check your intake of water. You will find that by drinking one to three extra glasses of water (you should drink 8-12 glasses a day) that the intensity of the pain will diminish. Many practitioners are beginning to believe that de-hydration is one of the main causes of undo pain. Do not consider that soft drinks, tea or coffee is drinking water, it is not. In fact these drinks (containing caffeine) actually de-hydrate you."