Chinese Medicine for Allergies
A runny nose, sneezing, itching, and watery eyes, are also known as symptoms of allergies. Seasonal allergies can be a pain. Nearly 50 million Americans are estimated to suffer from seasonal allergies yearly. And the amount of money spent on over-the-counter allergy medications is over $18 billion.
But what if there was a way to combat seasonal allergies without medications' side effects and get to the root of the problem instead of just masking the symptoms? Well, there is a way to do this, and it's called acupuncture.
Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine offer a permanent solution to seasonal allergies with an all-natural approach that will save you money. Since traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) attacks allergies in a much different method than Western medicine, there is a good chance your allergies will cease to be a problem. Western medicine knows how allergies work and what happens to the body, but there is still no explanation. TCM looks at the body as a whole and uses an elemental system to determine where each person has excesses and deficiencies. So the TCM treatments are completely customized to each patient, thus making them much more effective than over-the-counter medications.
When using TCM to treat allergies, practitioners focus heavily on Wei Qi. Wei Qi is similar to the immune system in Western medicine. Wei Qi protects the body against foreign materials that can lead to inflammation and, eventually, allergies. People with lower immunity/Wei Qi are more susceptible to allergies and frequent colds. Acupuncture helps to boost the Wei Qi making it more difficult for allergens to attack the body.
Acupuncture will make a difference in fighting allergies, but adding herbs and essential oils will provide the most efficient treatment to eliminate allergies for good. Because each patient has different causes for their allergies, adding herbal formulas and oils can significantly increase the acupuncture treatments' efficacy by extending the needles' effect. For example, if a patient gets itchy or watery eyes when their allergies flare up, the practitioner would likely want to draw the excess energy/element down. In this case, the patient would have an excess of fire-creating wind. The practitioner would use acupuncture points to decrease fire and wind in the body. Then also, adding herbs and essential oils that do the same thing would create the most efficient treatment with longer-lasting, more permanent effects.
Ultimately, acupuncture boosts the Wei Qi/immune system while decreasing the inflammatory response in your body that occurs when an allergen is encountered. As stated earlier, the other aspect of treatment is to look at the patient as a whole versus just the symptoms. A good acupuncturist will also focus on dietary habits contributing to your allergies. Many times a person's Wei Qi is depleted from within due to the foods they eat. Things like sugar and dairy are often associated with a lower immune system. Eliminating or drastically reducing these items will allow the body to recover more quickly, making resolving allergy attacks easier.
A comprehensive plan, including acupuncture treatments, herbs, and dietary changes, will yield the best results when fighting allergies. Be sure to seek out a professional, fully trained, and adequately licensed acupuncturist, and you will be grateful year after year for the relief they provide when treating allergies.
Contact Marc Gian in the Flatiron District of NYC and Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to start feeling better!