Remember the KISS Principle? It’s a clever acronym from the 1960s for “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” It means the least complicated solution is probably the best solution.
The KISS Principle applies across many industries — aircraft design, software design, technology and even marketing — and it equally applies in Practical Homeopathy®, too.
Some time ago, I received an interesting question: “What homeopathic remedy applies to bronchitis with epithelial cell involvement?”
Wow. That sounds so specific and complex, doesn’t it? But in reality, it’s not telling me much.
To quote the National Institutes of Health, “Epithelial cells of the lung are located at the interface between the environment and the organism and serve many important functions including barrier protection, fluid balance, clearance of particulate, initiation of immune responses, mucus and surfactant production, and repair following injury.”1
In other words, epithelial cells exist as a natural part of lung health.
I am not a pulmonologist
My friends, I’m not a doctor. I don’t even play one on TV, as the old joke goes. So, I am in no position to argue the validity of a conventional diagnosis.
What I am is a wife of an athletic, adventurous husband, a mother of three adult boys, a grandmother of two, and a Practical Homeopath™ who’s been in practice for almost 40 years. From all that life experience and homeopathic clinical expertise, I can tell you we needn’t always bog ourselves down in the complex terminology of a conventional diagnosis.
People often try to extract the words the doctor used to describe their condition and insert them right into homeopathy. For instance, this reader was saying, “Okay, the diagnosis mentioned epithelial cells, so what’s the remedy for epithelial cell bronchitis?”
Is that the question we should be asking? Is that really what we should infer from the diagnosis? Or is the condition simply garden-variety bronchitis (KISS)?
Look, sometimes, we can use the conventional diagnosis, and it slips right into place in homeopathy. Other times, it simply overcomplicates the issue.
Doctors often include medical adjectives to describe a condition. It’s not that the doctor is wrong; it’s that the person getting this information doesn’t know how to translate the descriptives into the homeopathic world.
How is the bronchitis presenting?
“What’s happening with the lungs? Are you saying that there’s a cough?”
“Yes, there’s a cough!”
“Okay, now tell us what the cough is like. How did you describe the condition to the doctor?”
“I’ve got this cough, and it’s always when I lie down. I can’t stand it! I only cough upon lying down.”
Ah-ha! Now we’re getting somewhere.
Bronchitis, epithelial cells … or, more simply, a cough that occurs when lying down
Although I often say you want to use the diagnosis, sometimes we benefit more when we translate medical language into plain language that better describes the symptoms. The extraneous twenty-five-cent terms in a diagnosis may be fascinating in the conventional medical world, but they don’t give us what we need.
In other words, we have to get down to brass tacks. What is this? It’s just a cough that’s worse when lying down.
I’ll share with you a remedy from a case I don’t believe I’ve ever talked about before: Aralia racemosa 30C.
Aralia is a great remedy for coughs that occur only when lying down. Sometimes the cough begins as soon as the sufferer reclines into bed. Other sufferers start coughing upon waking, after they’ve been asleep for a bit.
Generally, Aralia racemosa 30C would be employed upon commencement of the cough and repeated according to severity. If the cough continues, another dose may be required in short order. If the cough resolves for the night, another dose may not be required until the next evening.
Then, when very much better (meaning the cough doesn’t occur upon lying down anymore), we halt the use of the medicine. We can always take it up again, if necessary, should the condition arise again.
“Keep It Simple, Stupid” in every condition
I’ve often said my best clients were the Amish men who plowed the fields. They didn’t overcomplicate things. They’d say, “I’ve got this pain in my shoulder every time I move, and it feels like it’s grinding.”
That’s it!
If his shoulder pain only hurts with movement (when plowing), it’s very likely the joint.
If it’s joint pain, it’s arthritis.
Therefore, we immediately consider the leading homeopathic remedy for arthritis, Rhus tox.
KISS. That’s your lesson for today, my friends.
In Practical Homeopathy®, we need a simple diagnosis and, perhaps even more importantly, the presenting symptoms. We can then determine which potential homeopathic medicine is the tightest-fitting, most appropriate for the condition as it is being experienced. (Epithelial cells notwithstanding.)
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Warmly,
P.S. I taught this same concept to my Mighty Members back in 2023, in Memo to Mighty Members Tip #150.*
Would you believe that since that time, my Mighties have received 180 additional exclusive blog posts and lessons? If you are not a Mighty Member yet, think of everything you are missing.
Join us today and delve into the archives to enhance your homeopathic education. All that knowledge is just waiting for you.
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4457445/
Disclaimer: Joette is not a physician, and the relationship between Joette and her clients, students and followers is not that of prescriber and patient, but that of educator and learner. It is fully the learner’s choice whether or not to take advantage of the information Joette presents. Homeopathy doesn’t “treat” an illness; it addresses the entire person as a matter of wholeness that is an educational process, not a medical one. To be treated or diagnosed, Joette believes that the advice of a holistic physician is in order.
Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence. Not FDA evaluated.