Acupuncture Alleviates Allergy Season

Seasonal allergies can be a difficult challenge. As spring blossoms, your body attempts to ward off the many pollen, mold and weed spores taking over so much of your breathable air. This response can often stop you in your tracks with fierce sneezing, runny nose, coughing, headache, and even muscle pain. It’s not fun and waiting for allergy season to come to an end can seem like a lifetime. Add in heavy, side effect, over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medication and your body can feel like it’s getting hit from all sides.

Rather than suffer through temporary synthetic fixes, acupuncture could be a better option that may considerably relieve your allergy struggle. This ancient practice is backed by scores of reputable, peer reviewed studies. As a result many medical professionals consider it to be a valid treatment for many ailments. When it comes to allergies, before symptoms takeover or if you’re already in full swing, acupuncture alleviates allergy season with surprising results.

Re-Setting Your Allergy Response

During allergy season there is no need to fall into a cycle of unnecessary struggle when acupuncture can re-set your body’s response. Visit a conventional doctor for allergy symptoms and you will receive a short checkup and prescription for a medicine that will imbalance your entire system.

Following the practice of Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM), a trained acupuncturist will assess your entire constitution, not just your symptoms. Everything from your tongue color, eye clearness, multiple pulse points and reported daily life clues to build a picture that will determine your treatment.

The first part of the session you will receive mostly painless, hair thin needle applications to various parts of your body. Then, with these needles in each location, you will lie there for upwards of thirty to forty minutes. As you rest in a ‘post acupuncture application state,’ your body will slowly support strengthening your immune system and essentially re-setting your  to allergens.

Although multiple sessions are recommended to get you on track (roughly once or twice per week for four to six weeks), after such a protocol, sporadic “tune-ups” may be all you need. It’s a small price to pay to be able to throw away OTC and prescription meds and let your body finally embrace healing on its own.

Sphenopalatine Acupoint

There have been a variety of studies to determine the many effects of acupuncture therapy for health benefits. Each year much of this research includes the body’s response to acupuncture treatment for allergies, particularly allergic rhinitis.

As reported by to Aligned Modern Health,

“Researchers at the San Francisco-based Academy of Pain Research say that allergic rhinitis is a “highly prevalent medical problem” with eight to 10 percent of the American population recorded as sufferers. Symptoms include itchy eyes and nose, sneezing and chronic nasal blockage. If untreated, the condition could turn into bronchial asthma.

In one study, manipulation of the sphenopalatine acupoint seemed to show significant beneficial effects. The sphenopalatine acupoint is located on the face near the rear upper cheek directly above the sphenopalatine ganglion. This ganglion is believed to be a major factor in controlling  allergic rhinitis.

In a study by Chinese researchers published in BioMed Central (1/18) it was concluded that,

“Acupuncture at the SPA [sphenopalatine acupoint] is an effective treatment for [persistent allergic rhinitis], as it may ameliorate [make better] nasal symptoms, improve quality of life, and reduce the dosage of medicine….Our result demonstrates that performing acupuncture directly at the SPA to stimulate the SPG [sphenopalatine ganglion] is an effective method to treat PAR.”

Antihistamine Reduction

You might be skeptical of acupuncture working as well as a pharmaceutical antihistamine. However, studies show that acupuncture works better than many antihistamine sourced allergy remedies often accompanied by varied side effects.

Recent research by German scientists which was published  in Acupuncture in Medicine: Journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society (2/18) included the following protocols for  the study titled: ‘Impact of acupuncture on antihistamine use in patients suffering seasonal allergic rhinitis: secondary analysis of results from a randomized controlled trial.’:

• Screened 1,588 patients and accepted 414
• Eligibility was prior to the local pollen season (March–May)
• All patients had seasonal allergic rhinitis for a least two years
• Age range was limited between 16–45 years
• Blind study between verum (traditional) acupuncture and sham (random) acupuncture groups

The study concluded that,

“The data from 414 patients were analyzed. The acupuncture group used antihistamines significantly less often compared with the other groups []. Approximately 38% of the acupuncture group did not use any antihistamine in contrast to only 16% in the RM [rescue medication] group. The pre-post comparison suggested that the acupuncture patients did not need to increase the days of antihistamine use to alleviate their symptoms, unlike the other groups.”

This is just one example of how acupuncture can help you take control of your health without immediately relying on conventional medicine.

Endorphin Release and Anti-Inflammation Support

In addition to using acupuncture to re-set your body’s response to allergens it is also linked to endorphin release and acting to encourage a systemic anti-inflammatory response. Endorphins act as natural analgesics aka pain relief hormones. When challenged by allergy symptoms, acupuncture can reduce the pain by minimizing overt neurogenic reactions as well as stimulate anti-inflammatory feedback.

A well regarded 2017 study titled, ‘Electroacupuncture effect at the LI 4 Hegu point on the plasma β-endorphin level of healthy subjects’ published in the esteemed Journal of Physics, concluded that,

“A significant difference was found in the increased plasma β-endorphin levels between the intervention group and the control group. A significant difference was also observed in the plasma β-endorphin levels between the two groups after intervention. Thus, the effect of EA [electrical acupuncture] at the LI 4 Hegu point on the plasma β-endorphins levels increased in healthy subjects.”

Don’t wait for pollen, mold, ragweed and other allergens to slow you down. Start an acupuncture protocol to build up resistance to breathe easy through spring, summer, and beyond.

At Integrative Med Solutions, we will design an acupuncture and naturopathic treatment program that works for you. In many cases, insurance covers portions of the acupuncture treatment. Allow us to support you to achieve optimal health. To make an appointment or find out more about how acupuncture and naturopathic medicine can benefit you, please call our office at 914.337.2980 or Click Here to schedule an online appointment.

*Please Click Here to see a current list of Insurance Companies that commonly carry acupuncture benefits for its members. Please call 914.337.2980 or securely email info@intmedsolutions.com to verify your specific benefits. If you are emailing, please include your full name, date of birth and insurance identification card number.