Seasonal allergies & Acupuncture

Written  by Eeka King B.H.Sc (Acup)

Prescription and over-the-counter medications are widely available, but do nothing to help overall health and prevention of allergies, plus come with a host of not so lovely side effects. Natural remedies such as acupuncture, however, not only clear symptoms of allergies, but they also help the body come into balance: clearing the underlying condition causing allergies and improving overall health.

Seasonal allergies occur when someone reacts to the pollen of flowers in trees, grasses and weeds, and causes symptoms such as itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose, headaches, and fatigue. Allergies are a sign of an imbalance in the body and a weak immune system. Strengthening the body and the lungs can be the best thing to decrease or even rid oneself of seasonal allergies altogether.

Some natural tips include:

·         Eat local and organic, seasonal foods. This keeps us in tune and in balance with the natural cycles around us.

·         Eat local raw honey, and - if you do not have a reaction to it, test by having only a tiny granule at first - local bee pollen. The local honey and bee pollen is made from pollen of local flowers, in a form that is utilized by the body. Thus, when the body is later exposed in the environment, the immune system does not see it as an invader and react against it.

·         Take a regular multivitamin/mineral supplement year round to ensure that your body is functioning at its best.

·         Eat more raw foods, especially in the warmer months. This puts us in tune with the seasons, and helps our body function at its best.

·         Receive acupuncture and take a Chinese herbal formula specifically tailored to your presentation

How Acupuncture Helps Treat Allergies

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine is a great way to treat symptoms of seasonal allergies such as itchy eyes, stuffiness, headaches and fatigue and to also treat the underlying cause or imbalance in the body to begin with. When your body is balance one need not suffer seasonal allergies in the future.

Treating the symptoms

Acupuncture is excellent at treating symptoms of allergies. Many allergy symptoms are located above the neck, that is, in the head (stuffiness, headache, itchy eyes, etc.) This means the energy is not flowing smoothly from the head into the rest of the body, and vice versa. All the yang meridians flow from the hands up to the head, or from the head down to the feet. We need to open the channels in the neck and shoulders and allow the energy to flow.

Acupuncture can also treat the symptoms very locally: by placing small, sterile needles right on points of pain or symptoms like the head or side of nose, allowing the stuck energy to dissipate and move more smoothly throughout the body.
Treating the root cause
Secondly, though most importantly, acupuncture helps balance the body in general. Acupuncturists treat very specifically and individually, making sure the underlying cause of allergies (and any other symptoms) is cleared. When the body is in balance, symptoms disappear and health is restored. This is the main benefit of acupuncture: bringing a person into balance so that the body may heal itself of any ailment physically, mentally or emotionally.

While allergies can put a damper on enjoying the best the season holds, there is natural relief for allergy sufferers. And the relief need not be temporary. In fact, when the body is brought to a higher level of health, we enjoy renewed energy, flexibility and joy of living.

© Eeka King 2011 for Bayside Acupuncture Clinic