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The body speaks and we should listen.
We know we are unwell because our bodies communicate
this to us through a wide range of signs and symptoms.
Symptoms are things we subjectively feel such as heat,
headaches, pain, dizziness and the like. Signs are what
others can observe such as rashes, swelling, bruising
and the like. Conventional medicine uses suppressive
medications to quickly remove undesirable symptoms. We
are so accustomed to this quick fix that we have
developed intolerance for any unusual symptoms as well
as the belief that to rid ourselves of those symptoms is
to ‘get better’ or be cured. I would like to propose an
alternative perspective which includes a respect and
appreciation for the insights we might gain from those
symptoms. And furthermore, to appreciate that often our
symptoms are a sign that our bodies are moving in the
direction of cure and that suppressing these symptoms
may lead to a worsening of our health.
This perspective starts with the premise that our bodies
are incredibly adaptive and smart and therefore most
symptoms we experience are our body’s way of trying to
deal with an imbalance. Take a fever for example. When
faced with a bacteria or virus our bodies spike a fever
in order to both create a temperature not conducive to
the life of the invading organism as well as to speed up
our metabolism which in turn boosts the effectiveness of
our immune system. This is a brilliant and logical
response and the body’s way of healing. Traditionally a
fever is welcomed and supported within reason.
Suppression of a fever may make us feel better but it
inevitably prolongs the period of illness.
Symptoms are not problems but
rather the great communicators. When we experience a symptom the first thing we ought to do
is question what is the body trying to tell us? Let’s
take a common skin condition called eczema to illustrate
this. The skin is an organ of elimination and by
sweating we rid the body of unwanted substances.
However, our main organs of elimination are the
digestive system, liver, lungs and kidneys. When these
primary organs are not functioning effectively the body
uses a less effective and alternative route such as the
skin to rid ourselves of excessive irritants. For this
reason when someone presents with a skin condition such
as eczema or psoriasis the question on our minds should
be what primary elimination organs are not functioning
well? The eczema will naturally clear up when the
primary organs are supported. When the skin is clearing
up our body is communicating that it is moving in the
direction of a real cure.
The common approach to eczema is to make it disappear
by using topical cortisone creams. By making the eczema
disappear we have the false belief that we are cured but
all we have done is suppress a useful symptom. When
symptoms are suppressed we develop more serious and
chronic illnesses. It is a known fact that 80% of
children with eczema develop asthma. Naturopathic
principles would explain this by the suppression of
eczema leading to a more serious and deep disease that
now is affecting the lungs, a primary organ of
elimination.
The pioneers in naturopathic medicine understood this
perspective on symptoms. Henry Lindlahr, the founder of
scientific naturopathy (1862-19243) emphasized that
suppression of acute disease would lead to chronic
diseases and that acute disease was the result of a
“cleansing/healing effort of nature”. In other words,
symptoms of acute disease are a sign that the body is
attempting to balance itself. James Tompson said “when
your body decides upon a spring cleaning, instead of
becoming emotional and afraid, you should be thankful to
your body for making such an excellent effort on your
behalf”.
Treat the problem not the
symptom.
Often symptoms are part of the solution not part of the
problem. Let’s take hot flashes for example. We must
ask the obvious question: why does the body sweat? We
know that sweat is a natural and normal response to help
us cool down as well as to eliminate build up of
excessive matter (thus detoxify). The fact that this
occurs at menopause simply indicates that our bodies are
overwhelmed and unable to cope with what should be a
normal transition in a healthy body. If we support our
body’s ability to cope then the hot flashes will go
away. If we simply take hormones to suppress them have
we really addressed the issue that our body is
communicating to us at all? Hot flashes are not the
problem but they do communicate a fundamental
imbalance. Hormones may make these hot flashes
disappear but again this response is suppressive and the
body will manifest disease from the underlying imbalance
which has not been addressed.
We
tend to treat symptoms and signs as “out of site out of
mind”. Unfortunately medications give us the false impression that
we have cured a problem when in reality not only is the
underlying imbalance still there, but we have now
removed the communication mechanism that we might use to
gauge our healing.
Any chronic problem and all the symptoms of that problem
are your body’s way of telling us we are under a chronic
stress and that it is trying to deal with that stress,
be it chemical, physiological or an emotional. The
solution is to support the body’s ability to reduce that
stress by removing our lifestyle triggers and supporting
the body’s systems so they can be more balanced. The
symptoms will disappear on their own when the body is
ready to tell us that we are in balance.
As a general rule unless a symptom is life threatening
or debilitating we should respect its purpose and use it
as a guide for our progress. Symptoms may be managed in
order to reduce our suffering in the short run. For
example, if we are experiencing itching from a skin
condition we may apply soothing topical. But our
primary purpose should not be to make symptoms
disappear. Let’s leave that up to the body, for the
science of the body is wiser than we are. |