SYMPTOMS - WHAT IS A SYMPTOM?

We all know what a symptom is, right? A symptom is a sign that something is wrong - but which symptoms do we actually take notice of?

In the West we are used to symptoms being grouped together to form a diagnosis, so when you have diagnosis you have certain symptoms that form a common group.The grouping of symptoms for diagnosis is the opposite of homeopathy which looks for symptoms that are not common to find the remedy that is homeopathic.

So diagnosis and homeopathy could be said to be opposites. This means that the symptoms that are important for diagnosis are not likely to be the ones that are important for homeopathy, thus diagnosis has lowest place as a tool for finding a homeopathic remedy.

To find a homeopathic remedy we need to match the patient's individual symptoms (not their diagnosis) to a known remedy, this is what makes it homeopathic

The symptoms that matter in homeopathy are often ones which might not be important for a diagnosis:
- e.g.the little details like the nature of the pain (sharp, pinching, digging, stabbing, throbbing etc) what makes it better or worse (warmth, cold, raising up, hanging down, doubling up, lying flat, time of day etc.) or the appearance of the condition ( e.g. colour, red, blue etc..hot or cold to touch, etc) and the emotional/mental state that accompanies it (angy, sad, fearful etc)

So when we speak of 'symptoms' for prescribing homeopathically we refer to all symptoms in their every aspect and in their every location, often in their tiniest detail and, even if the main symptom is physical we nonetheless use the emotional state to help find the remedy.

Because homeopathy is a therapy that is symptom lead, not diagnosis lead, the difference between indvidual patients' symptoms (rather than what is common to them) is what is important .

Thus when homeopaths talk of symptoms, they refer to a patients' individual symtoms not the symptoms of a diagnosis.