Natural Relief of Allergy

Have allergy? Tried everything? How about natural relief or even a cure?

Having an allergic condition can be uncomfortable, awful, painful, or even life-threatening. You may sometimes have red, itchy, watery eyes, and stuffy or runny nose, which are the common symptoms of allergic rhinitis. You may feel awful, but one thing for sure is that you are not alone, because 35.9 million of American or about 11% of us are just like you. Of course, when you have an allergic condition, you may have increased risk of developing other allergic reactions, such as eczema, hives, hay fever, asthma attacks, food allergies, and reactions to the venom of stinging insects, or even certain drugs. The worst case can be life-threatening. In fact, the death rate caused by various allergic (anaphylactic) reactions in the US is over 800 cases per year.

According to Western Medicine, allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur to normally harmless environmental substances known as allergens; these reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid. It is characterized by excessive activation of certain white blood cells called mast cells and basophils by a type of antibody known as IgE, resulting in an extreme inflammatory response.

I bet you have tried all kinds of methods, avoidance, antihistamines, steroids, other symptom control medications, and perhaps even allergy shots (desensitization), but your allergy just comes and goes. You really do not seem to have much control over it, except for hating the time or season coming, and admiring those who can freely inhale the fresh season…

But have you ever thought about one day doing that as well, I mean, deeply breath the fresh air filled with all kinds of flower scents without worries? Oh, yeah, you can do that, no kidding!

Here is a true story… A patient of mine, at her 60’s, has had stuffy or runny nose all her life. She initially thought everyone has stuffy or runny nose, and it is normal. Later, she learned that was allergic rhinitis, and therefore started her life-long fight against the allergy. The truth is that she wasn’t lucky enough to cure her problem until last year when she visited my clinic. Yes, she came to my clinic and tried acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine. A few weeks later, that “little creek” under her nose all her life finally stopped running!

What? Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can help to relieve allergy, and even cured 60 years old allergic rhinitis? Yes, you got that right. Acupuncture and herbs are major components of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). There have been thousands of years of history for TCM to treat allergy, and there have been many successful TCM clinical practice and accumulated precious experiences in this regard. I was lucky enough to step on the shoulders of the historic giant, and learned its tricks. Now I am glad that I can use the techniques to help my patients.

From TCM point of view, the allergic rhinitis is not that hard to understand. It all begins with weakness of spleen, which leads to failure of nurturing lung. The insufficient lung Qi renders the lung and its opening part, the nose, more vulnerable and therefore more sensitive to exogenous stimuli or insults. So, the treatment strategy also begins with strengthening the spleen, and … Have I lost you? Well, TCM is quite complicated and much different from Western medicine. I bet you don’t care how it works. What you care is it DOES work!

Yes, you are right; it DOES work, though very few people know that. While I am helping patients with pains or other health problems that people may know that TCM works, I just want to spread the words and let you know that TCM can also help to relieve allergy naturally. So, the earlier you step up to try, the sooner you will be able to enjoy the fresh flower scents without worries!