6/3/2017 AggravationinHomeopathyCOMPLETEinformationaboutAggravationinHomeopathyKatjaSchuett

AggravationinHomeopathy
hpathy.com /organonphilosophy/aggravationinhomeopathy/
KatjaSchuett 6/15/2013

Afterestablishingthebasicprinciplesofhomeopathyandwhilstgainingpracticalexperience,Hahnemann
constantlyworkedonperfectingtheapplicationmethodstoavoidaggravationsandtoprovidearapid,gentleand
permanentcure.BasedonhispracticalexperienceHahnemannargued,that:

Thesuitablenessofamedicineforanygivencaseofdiseasedoesnotdependonitsaccuratehomeopathic
selectionalone,butlikewiseonthepropersize,orrathersmallness,ofthedose.(275Organon)

Aggravationmeanstheincreaseofintensityordegreeofsuffering.Eachaggravationofsymptomsorthe
appearanceofnewsymptoms,whennothinguntowardhasoccurredinthementalorphysicalregimen,invariably
provestheunsuitabilityofthegivenmedicine,eithertheremedyitselforitspotencyordose.

Modalityaggravation

Modalitiesarecircumstancesthatmodifyaparticularorgeneralsymptom,eitherappearingartificiallyinduced
duringprovings,orasexperiencedbythepatientsufferingfromthenaturaldisease.Modalitiescanmakea
symptombetterorworse.

Eachremedyhasitsownmodeofactionandactsbestundercertainconditions.Thus,modalitiesbelongtothe
distinguishingfeaturesthathelpdifferentiatingremedies.Especially,iftheyarestrange,rareorpeculiarthey
highlyindividualizeacaseandassistinchoosingthehomeopathicremedy.

Boenninghausenattachedspecialimportancetothecompletenessofsymptoms,forwhichmodalitiesare
consideredthemostvaluablefeatures,followedbysensationandlocation.Concomitantsymptoms,whichmay
constituteofmodalities,alsorepresentimportantdifferentiatingfactorsaccordingtoBoenninghausen.

Modalitiescanbeclassifiedasphysical,temperature,time,climate,dietarymodalities,localizedmodalities
(lateralities)andmiscellaneousmodalities.

Similar,homeopathicaggravation

GuidedbytheLawofSimilarshomeopathssearchfortheremedythatismostsimilartothepatientstotalityof
characteristicsymptoms.Applied,thisremedyinducesanartificialdisease,which,whensomewhatstrongerthan
thenaturaldisease,replacesthenaturaldiseaseandinitiatescure.

Asimilaraggravationoccurswhentheoriginalsymptomsofthepatientincreasetemporarilyatthebeginningof
treatment.Thisisasignthattheremedyiscorrectbutthatthepotencywastoohigh,orthedosetoolargeor
repeatedtoofrequently.

Thesimilaraggravationiscausedbytheprimaryactionoftheremedyanddisplaystheartificial,medicinal
disease,whichexceedsthenaturaldiseaseinstrength.Asthedoseofahomeopathicremedycanscarcelyever
bemadesosmallthatitshallnotbeabletooverpowerthediseaseitisunderstandablewhyahomeopathic
aggravationmayoccuratthebeginningoftreatment.(160Organon)However,thesmallerthedoseofthe
accuratelychosenhomeopathicremedythemoresalutaryitsgentleremedialeffectandtheslighterandshorter
theapparentincreaseofthediseasesymptoms.(157,159,277Organon)

InthesixtheditionoftheOrganonHahnemannlimitedthehomeopathicaggravationtothefirstorfirstfewhours
inacutediseases.Itusuallyoccursimmediatelyafteringestionforthefirsthour,orforafewhours,whenthe
dosehasnotbeensufficientlysmall,andforaconsiderablenumberofhourswhenthedosehasbeensomewhat
toolarge.(160Organon)
6/3/2017 AggravationinHomeopathyCOMPLETEinformationaboutAggravationinHomeopathyKatjaSchuett

Inchronicdiseases,however,andwiththeapplicationofHahnemannsadvancedmethodsasdescribedinthe
sixtheditionoftheOrganon,anintensificationoftheoriginalsymptomsshallonlyappearattheendoftreatment,
whencureisalmostfinishedprovidedtheaccuratelychosenremedywasgiveningraduallyincreasedpotency
andproperlysmallandmodifieddoses.(161Organon)Whencureisalmostfinishedthevitalforcedoesnot
needfurthermedicinetocontinueitscurativereaction.Iffurthermedicineisapplied,thesymptomsofthe
medicinearecalledintoplay.However,ifthefirstdosecausesahomeopathicaggravationinchronicdiseases,
andinthesamewayeveryrepeated,modifieddose,thisindicatesthatthedosewastoolarge.(282Organon)

Anaggravationcausedbythesmallestpossibledosewillbeeasilyovercomebythevitalforceanddoesnot
preventcure.Itisoftennotperceptibleinpatientsunlesstheyareoversensitive.(156,283Organon)

Ahomeopathicaggravationisoftenappreciatedbythehomeopath,especiallytheforthorfifthOrganon
prescribers,asindicatingthatthechosenremedyiscorrectandworking.However,anaggravationisneither
necessarytoknowthattheremedyworks,norforcure.Anyaggravationdelaysormightevenpreventcureifthe
primaryactionoftheremedyistoostrongandsuppressesthesecondary,curativeresponseofthevitalforce.
Hahnemannjustwrote,thataslighthomeopathicaggravationisaverygoodprognosticthattheacutediseasewill
mostprobablyyieldtothefirstdose!(158Organon)

Theintensityanddurationofthesimilaraggravationgivesusaclueaboutthecorrectnessofthechosenremedy,
thepatientsvitalforce,prognosis,andforcasemanagement.

Aquickandshortsimilaraggravationfollowedbyimprovementindicatesthattheremedywaschosen
correctly.Improvementwillbelonglasting.Thepatienthasastrongvitalityandgoodreactivepower.
Organicchangesareunlikelyoronlypresentinnonvitalorgans.Thecaseiscurable,theprognosisisvery
good.
Alongcontinuedaggravationbuteventualandslowlyprogressingimprovementindicatesthatthepatientis
ontheborderlineofincurability.Thevitalforceisstrugglingtostartasecondarycurativereaction.
Pathologyislikelytobepresent.Prognosisisuncertain.Thepatientmayrecoveriftreatedproperlyand
thevitalforcestrongenoughtoinitiateandmaintainthehealingprocess.
Aprolongedaggravationandslowdeclineeitherindicatestheincurabilityofthecaseduetoirreversible
organicpathologyandatooweakvitalforce,and/or,thatthevitalforcehasbeenoverwhelmedbyatoo
highpotencyordoseandisunabletostartahealingreaction.
Hypersensitivepatientsmayreacttoandaggravateoneveryremedy.Highpotenciesaretobeavoided.

Accessorysymptoms

Asitisalmostimpossiblethatthesymptomsoftheremedyandthesymptomsofthepatientsdiseasecovereach
otherexactly,thereishardlyanyhomeopathicmedicine,whichduringitsactiondoesnotbringaboutsomevery
slightunaccustomedcomplaintorsmallnewsymptom.(156Organon)

Accessorysymptomsofthecorrectlychosenremedymayalsoappearwhenthedosewastoolarge,theremedy
repeatedtoofrequently,and/orthepotencytoohigh,sothatmedicinalsymptomsoftheremedywhichwerenot
experiencedbefore,aredisplayed.Thismayespeciallyappearinoversensitivepatientswhoproveremedies
easily.

Iftheaccessorysymptomsaretroublesome,theremedywillnotbecapableofeffectingrealimprovement.(249
Organon)Amedicine,althoughhomeopathictothecase,doesharmineverydosethatistoolarge.Thegreater
itshomeopathicitythegreatertheharmoftheremedyintoolargedosesasthepatientssusceptibilityis
increased.Thedangerliesinestablishinganartificial,medicinaldiseasewithnewandmoreseveresymptoms,
withoutextinguishingtheold,naturaldisease.

6/3/2017 AggravationinHomeopathyCOMPLETEinformationaboutAggravationinHomeopathyKatjaSchuett

Whatarewetodo?

1.Iftheaggravationistriflingornotdangeroustheactionofthemedicineshouldnotbeinterrupted.Waittill
theaggravationwearsoffandameliorationfollows.Ifrepetitionisnecessary,repeattheremedyinamore
suitablepotencyand/orreduceddose,orrepeatlessfrequently.Whenremediesareappliedinwatery
solutionthedosecanbeeasilyadjustedtoavoidaggravations.
2.Iftheaggravationisofburdensomeintensityitshouldnotbeendured.Eitherrepeatthesameremedyina
lowerdoseorpotency,orindescendingpotenciestodecreasetheintensityoftheremedysaction,untilthe
aggravationsubsides.Checkwhethertheremedyistrulyindicated.
3.Iftheaggravationisverysevereorevenlifethreateningtheactionoftheremedyshouldbeinterruptedby
givinganantidote.Applyaremedywhichisknowntoantidotethepreviouslygivenremedyandwhichis
mostsimilartothenewtroublesomesymptoms.Letitactuntilthesymptomssubside,thenreturnto
prescribing,adjustingpotencyanddose.Checkwhethertheremedyistrulyindicated.
4.Ifthehomeopathicaggravationappearstowardstheendoftreatmentthedosesmustbereducedfurther
and/orrepeatedatlongerintervals,orevenstoppedforseveraldays,toseewhethernomoremedicineis
necessaryforcure.Ifnofurthermedicineisnecessarythesymptomscausedbytheexcessoftheremedy
willsoondisappearandleaveundisturbedhealth.(248Organon)

Dissimilaraggravation

Adissimilaraggravationoccurswhenanincorrectlychosenremedyproducesnew,persistingandpossibly
troublesomesymptomswhichthepatienthadneverexperiencedbefore.Withthewrongremedythepatientdoes
notfeelbetteringeneralapartfromthepalliativereliefofsomesuperficialsymptoms.Iftheremedyisallowedto
acttheinternaldiseasewillbeintensified,newailmentswilldevelop,andanartificial,medicinaldiseasemightbe
producedthatsuspendsthenaturaldisease.Bewaretothinkthepatientsoriginaldiseasehasimprovedand
another,oldlayeriscomingtothesurface!

Whatarewetodo?

1.Iftheremedyissimilarenoughtoremoveaconsiderablepartofthediseasewithoutcausingtoomanyor
severeaccessorysymptoms,thetreatmentistocontinue.
2.Dontrepeattheremedyifitcausestoomanynewandtroublesomesymptomsduetoinsufficient
homeopathicity.
3.Ifthereappearsymptomsofsomemoment,dontallowthedosetoexhaustitsactionbuttakecorrective
measures.
4.Ifthenewsymptomsarenotsevere,abetterindicatedremedyshouldbegivenimmediately.
5.Ifthenewsymptomsaretroublesomeorevendangerous,theactionoftheremedyshouldbestoppedby
anantidotebeforegivingabetterchosenremedy.Choseanantidotethatisknowntoantidotetheactionof
thepreviouslygivenremedyandwhichissimilartothenew,troublesomesymptoms.
6.Tochoseabetterremedytheremainderoftheoriginalsymptomsandthenewlydevelopedsymptomsare
tocombineinagrandtotality,asthenewsymptomsareofsuchanatureasthediseaseitselfwascapable
ofproducing.