Healing Reactions
Written & Edited by: Dr. Andersen
Introduction
Healing Reactions, formerly known as the Herxheimer or “Herx” reaction and also commonly called a “healing crisis”, are a set of varying, unpleasant symptoms, that regularly accompany the process of detoxification, regeneration, & return to health & well-being in body, mind, & spirit. Often misinterpreted as a worsening of one’s symptoms, due to the similarity of these experiences with an illness, these reactions regrettably lead to a premature ending for many well-intentioned detoxifying & therapeutic treatment plans. In actuality, we will often have to feel worse as part of the process of getting better, so in reality the experience is one to be celebrated. A general rule of thumb is that the more dietary, lifestyle, and environmental toxins we accumulate, the more severe these reactions will be during a cleanse or healing program.
The Body’s Ability
The body naturally cleanses itself every day in order to remove internal metabolic waste & environmental toxins that accumulate through exposure to air, water, & food pollution, as well as hormonal fluctuations, medications, & stress. When these toxic substances are being amassed faster than one can eliminate them, they are stored in our tissues and referred to as “toxemia”, which affects our physical, mental, emotional, & even spiritual well-being. Toxemia is generally greatest in the most symptomatic organ system (ie. that system from which most of your symptoms arise). It contributes to weakening our immune system, reducing energy & vitality, & disrupting our mental & emotional health. Unless you live an active, natural, & pure lifestyle, including regular detoxifying regimens, toxemia inevitably increases as you age.
How Healing Reactions Evolve
In order to effectively remove toxemia from your system, optimize immune strength, & stimulate restoration in body, mind, & spirit, the first step is to stop putting known toxins into your body. When the body is primed, ready, & vitalized, due to either a cleansing or healing program that aims to remove the obstacles to healing by changing the unhealthy habits you subsist on, and replaces them with enlivening, health-promoting, & vitalizing alternatives, it will mount an attempt to release the accumulated toxic load & restore your systems to a state of balance. This cleansing process is primarily handled by the eliminatory or emunctory organs (ie. colon, kidneys, liver, lungs, & skin), & supported by adequate circulation, lymphatic flow, & proper immune system function. If these toxic accumulations and wastes are being released from your tissues at a rate that exceeds the body’s ability to process & excrete them you will experience the undesirable set of symptoms known as a healing reaction.
How to Expedite & Mitigate Symptoms of a Healing Reaction
Drink plenty of pure, structured water
Eat light meals of mostly vegan organic foods
Use detoxifying herbs, homeopathics, & hydrotherapy
Avoid packaged, processed, or refined foods, grains, sugars, etc
Avoid all dairy & meat products
Get ample sleep
Adopt a stress management practice
A New, Actually Old, Explanation of Colds & Flus
Colds & flus, viruses & bacteria, fungi, etc are not the cause of our ills. Instead, they begin to appear as we accumulate toxins, grow in numbers as our terrain becomes more acidic & inflamed, & inevitably blossom as part of the attempt to remove amassed waste from an overburdened system. The viruses, bacteria, & fungi are more often our friends than our foes, there to help in the cleansing process. Under the guise of a holistic plan developed by an experienced, licensed, and vitalistic healthcare practitioner, they remain in check as the innate wisdom of our being safely manages & regulates them in a harmonized healing process.
What to Expect During a Healing Reaction
There are a variety of symptoms one may experience during a healing crisis, which can include body aches and pains, chills, colds, coughs and flus, congestion, constipation or diarrhea, disorientation, dizziness, headaches, nausea, and skin eruptions. During this transitional period, it is not unusual for individuals to experience healing on more than the physical level. Depression, emotional restlessness, irritability, mental fog, unusual dreams, and often an increased requirement for more sleep, affords the body ample time to heal, repair, and regenerate. Again, the more severe your condition, the more pronounced your symptoms will be.
How Do I Know Whether or Not I Am Experiencing a Healing Reaction?
You will feel better than usual immediately before the onset of a healing reaction. The body needs to amass enough vitality or energy to take on a healing endeavor before it commits to doing so.
You will feel a general sense of well-being about your symptoms during a healing crisis. Even though you will be feeling “ill”, there won’t be any alarm or fear of the experience as you sense that it will only be temporary and possibly even of benefit to see it through.
It will coincide with efforts related toward a healing or detoxifying routine. Changes in diet, exercise and movement, stress reduction and activities or practices that promote it, or even “toxic” relationships and occupations can all lead towards a release of accumulated toxins from the body, mind, and spirit.
Finally, most healing reactions are transitory and short-lived. Often on the time-scale of hours to days. However, in cases of long-standing conditions, symptoms may last for several weeks to months due to the sheer amount of accumulated toxins that need to be removed.
What Not To Do During a Healing Reaction
Above all else, the number one contraindication for all Healing Reaction is to take any suppressive medication. Pharmaceutical, whether over-the-counter or prescription, halt the body’s innate propensity to move towards a state of balance and health. In addition, they further toxify an already toxic system. No matter how bad the headache is or how uncomfortable the expectorations are, do not try to stifle the symptoms prematurely by taking any conventional medicine. Here, we always say, talk to your Naturopath, they are the experts in natural, non-suppressive medicine. A Naturopathic Doctor will easily be able to recommend complementary therapies, including herbal and homeopathic preparations, hydrotherapy, and other modalities that will alleviate any symptoms should they become unbearable.
Why Have I Never Heard of a “Healing Reaction”, “Herx Reaction”, or “Healing Crisis?”
Rarely, if ever, encountered in conventional medicine, who’s short-sighted philosophical approach to “treatment” is to simply suppress symptoms as they arise, these reactions are mistakenly diagnosed as a worsening of the disease process instead of accurately assessed as the body’s own inherent capacity to detoxify & eliminate accumulated toxins. Due to widespread dissemination of this naive, mechanistic approach to medicine, healing reactions are inappropriately misinterpreted as a further deterioration in health, suppressed accordingly, and inevitably driven deeper into one’s being, resulting in an increasing level of toxemia & the current state of the civilized world wrought on by modern medicine where chronic disease (ie. cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, obesity, etc) has surpassed infectious disease as the number-one killer worldwide. On the other hand, by allowing the body regular opportunities to naturally cleanse itself, unhindered by the outdated, toxic pharmaceutical approach to “healing” that has cast its “profit over progress” & “sickcare” shadow on medicine of the 20th and 21st Century, we are able to release accumulated toxins naturally acquired from improper diet, poor lifestyle choices, & environmental exposures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we should all welcome a yearly or bi-annual cold or flu. It is our body’s way of “spring-cleaning.” Our world is full of stressors and we need to release to renew our experience in health and healing as we age. From our family to yours, may you have a prosperous and wholesome healing reaction sometime soon and remember to embrace the sour so that you can whole-heartedly taste the sweet.