Have you ever wondered what it would be like to look forward to the new season without the dreaded headaches, itchy eyes, sinus congestion?
Last week one of my Seattle patients came in for treatment for his low back pain. I noticed his eyes were red and he sounded congested. He was surprised to hear that acupuncture is very effective for treating seasonal allergies.
Acupuncture works for seasonal allergies treatment by strengthening the body’s immune mechanism to process the allergens out more efficiently. It doesn’t mask the symptoms or have side effects like an allergy medication. While I don’t discourage people from taking allergy medication to survive in their daily life, I do feel that the medication suppresses the body’s effort to expel the allergen. I have helped several people in both Seattle and Anacortes reduce or stop taking allergy medication with acupuncture.
Acupuncture treatments are accumulative and require a series of sessions. Most people report that they are able to breathe more freely after the first treatment. With every acupuncture session, its important to evaluate each individual patient to find which meridians need to balanced, strengthened or subdued. For most allergy symptoms, typically the patient’s lung meridian is weakened which makes them more susceptible to the allergic reaction because the body can’t expel it as quickly as a person with stronger lung Qi. We take in our Qi through our breath in the oriental medicine perspective. On the western side our mouth, nose and lungs are lined with mucous membranes which allow direct access to our capillaries and blood supply. This is great for letting in oxygen but not so great with the pollens and other environmental toxins. I’ve listed research articles below about the positive effects of acupuncture on treating seasonal allergies.
Acupuncture for persistent allergic rhinitis: a randomised, sham-controlled trial
Observation on the curative effect of acupuncture on type I allergic diseases
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