Herring's Laws of Cure.

Herring's Laws in the treating of chronic diseases, the homeopaths have discovered that the elimination of these conditions proceeds in a certain specific order and rules have been laid down outlining this healing procedure. These rules are known as Herring's Laws in honor of Constantine Herring (1800-1880), who is considered the father of American homeopathy.

Herring's three laws may be expressed simply as follows:

1. Symptoms of a chronic disease disappear in a definite order when the patient is properly treated in accordance with homeopathic recommendations. The symptoms usually disappear in the reverse order of their appearance; the most recent symptom disappears first; then an earlier symptom re-manifests only to abate when the proper remedy is given. This process continues until all the unresolved disease conditions are eliminated, even though some may go back to early childhood. This procedure is called the reverse progression of symptoms. This procedure of symptom regression isn't restricted to homeopathy alone, but is to be expected when most natural methods of therapy are used to overcome chronic ailments.
   
   
2. Herring's second law states that the symptoms tend to move from the more vital organs to the less vital organs and from the interior of the body toward the periphery or skin. This law functions because of the body's attempt to preserve itself. If a disease that produces morbid matter can't be eliminated, the body tries to deposit the residues of this condition in as harmless an area as possible. The skin is one of the safest, but the various connective tissues and joints are also frequently used by the body for this purpose. Only when the disease process is overpowering does the body allow it to invade the vital organs, and even then the body makes every possible attempt to keep the disease processes out of the heart and brain. When a patient comes to us with disorders of the vital organs, we know the vital force is weak or these areas wouldn't be affected and therefore the cure will be prolonged. Under treatment, the symptoms will subside and recede from the more vital areas to the less vital areas, and the symptoms may even end with a healing reaction on the best eliminator of all--the skin.
   
   
3. Herring's third rule states that the symptoms move from the top of the body downward, disappearing first from the head, then from the thigh to the knee, ankle, and foot. We frequently encounter this last pattern, wherein the pain will go from the abdomen into the hip, then thigh, then knee and then in and out the foot. These patients often comment: "You know, Doctor, I'm sure when it gets down to the foot, it will just go out the toes and be gone." They usually are correct.
   
   The functioning of the third law is based on a principle similar to the second. Because the more vital areas are found in the head and upper portion of the body and those of less importance are encountered toward the extremities, the third law is a symptomatic extension of the second law. Its nature is important to the physician but not particularly to the patient.
   
   From these laws, a patient may realize that under proper homeopathic treatment he could re-manifest symptom patterns from an earlier stage of his life, only if these conditions weren't fully corrected originally. If he had so lived that the body didn't have residual disease material, it wouldn't be necessary to go through this retracing regimen.
   
   We have always found this concept for the cure of chronic diseases one of the most fascinating aspects of natural therapy. Such a concept is completely rejected by all but a few allopaths. This rejection is to be expected, of course, for if they accept it, they would also have to accept the fact that most of their methods of therapy are injurious to the patient in the long run. Although there are many fine men in the medical field who have for years been harboring grave doubts about basic allopathic practice, we fear it will be many more years before they are able to accept the homeopathic and naturalistic view of chronic ailments.