
The Link between Suppression and Recurring Symptoms
Homeopathy uses a unique way of viewing symptoms. It’s as if our body is nothing but a movie screen showing us symptoms that are an outward expression of what is really going on inside of us.
When those expressed symptoms are covered up we are suppressing the illness which makes it appear as if it has gone away, but in reality the illness has been driven back into the body and will either become dormant or express itself in another way.

The first time a symptom (illness) is expressed it comes out acutely, meaning that it comes out for a short period of time and then will go away completely. For example, a headache, a cold, sinus infection, etc. When the symptom(s) is not addressed properly the illness develops into a chronic illness. There are many ways to not address symptoms: do nothing i.e., just push through ignoring it and hopefully it goes away. Or by using herbal (tea tree oil, calendula, etc.) prescription or Over-The-Counter (OTC) pills (antibiotics, anti-depressants, cough suppressants, etc.) and topical (creams, powders, sprays lotions, etc.). Or any other method used where the symptoms keep returning and not improving. How do you know you have a chronic illness? In a matter of time you will have re-occurrence of the suppressed symptoms. For example: you take one or more rounds of an antibiotic(s) for your sinus infection and it appears as if it has gone away. However, in a matter of weeks or even the next year you are plagued again with another sinus infection. Some would say you have a new sinus infection. Homeopathy’s view is the symptoms were suppressed and have resurfaced.
When using suppressants we are not addressing the issue to begin with.
When you take the suppressant whether herbal, prescription(s) or OTC the symptoms you are trying to address can be suppressed. Meaning every time you try to get off it, the symptoms come back again in a matter of time, and you continue to rely on the product. So, stopping the product is not the solution. You need to fix why you have the symptoms to begin with.
Over my years of consulting, I have seen cases where something as common as someone applying a topical powder to sweaty feet, suppressing the sweat, later came out as terrible dandruff. In other cases it might come out as jock-itch. This is the same with using OTC or prescription products on the face for acne or on the bottom for diaper rash. The product clears up the skin condition as long as one continues using the product. All along the skin is looking great, but what is really happening is that the skin eruptions are being suppressed and are driven deeper down into the body. This then affects the liver and in some cases may affect the lungs causing asthma or other lung conditions. This goes for all kinds of topical products that are placed on the body for conditions such as athletes feet, jock-itch, dandruff, eczema, diaper rash, etc. When you put a lid on the symptoms (suppression) they will show up someplace else as a different symptom. And what do we do? We use something else to address the new symptom(s) only to drive it further down into the body.
When I have worked on a chronic homeopathic case for someone with asthma, as the asthma cleared up using a homeopathic remedy, a skin rash appeared. With further investigation, the client shared that this was a rash they had had at another time, which was addressed with a topical cream (i.e., suppressed and most likely the reason the asthma developed). We needed to select a Homeopathic remedy to address the skin rash to completely address the asthma case. This is what you call “peeling away the layers”; by addressing the asthma with a homeopathic remedy, you went down to the next layer-the skin rash. This process continues, peeling away each layer, until the root cause of the problem is addressed and then the chronic symptom is completely resolved. Overall the homeopathic remedy is strengthening the immune system.
So you see, as long as the suppressive agent is used, the symptoms look like they are improving or may even disappear, but behind the movie screen they are brewing, weakening the immune system. It is always best to address the acute symptom(s) by addressing the root cause now rather than later as a chronic illness. The good news is that suppressed symptoms can be addressed both acutely and chronically. When the chronic illness comes out acutely, you can address it with a homeopathic remedy for those acute symptoms being expressed at that time. Recurring illnesses (i.e., chronic) are best addressed by having a full homeopathic chronic health case analysis done.
This all comes down to taking care of ourselves in a way to keep our immune system strong, as much as possible, with our busy life styles. The message is – Every chronic symptom at one time started as an acute symptom sometime during your life. Homeopathy is one approach to address both acute and chronic symptoms.