Acupuncture Could Improve Your Seasonal Allergies

Sneezing, wheezing, itchy eyes, runny nose, and other seasonal allergy symptoms don't have to make you miserable. Acupuncture offers a natural solution to allergy control.

Easing Your Symptoms with Acupuncture

Allergy symptoms occur when the body overacts to an allergen. Although common allergens like pollen and ragweed won't hurt you, your immune system mistakenly considers these substances dangerous invaders. It releases histamines, chemicals that help remove allergens. Unfortunately, the release of histamines causes a variety of allergy symptoms, including:

• Runny Nose
• Watery Eyes
• Sneezing
• Itchy Eyes, Nose, or Throat
• Nasal Congestion
• Sore Throat
• Sinus Headache
• Post-Nasal Drip
• Coughing
• Fatigue

Ways Acupuncture Relieves Seasonal Allergy Symptoms

You probably know more than a few people who suffer from allergies. That's not surprising, since 25% of adults and almost 19% of children suffer from seasonal allergies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, too many allergy sufferers don't find sufficient relief with medication alone.

If allergy medication doesn't help or makes you feel worse, you aren't out of options. Acupuncture can help you manage your seasonal allergy symptoms by:

• Restoring Balance. The attack on allergens can alter yin and yang, opposing forces that help your body stay balanced. Imbalances in yin and yang can occur if Qi, a life force necessary for good health, becomes blocked. Qi travels through your body in a system of channels called meridians. A blockage in a meridian can upset the yin/yang balance and affect your allergy symptoms. The hair-thin needles your acupuncturist inserts in your skin break up blockages, restore balance, and improve your symptoms.
• Boosting Your Immune System. Acupuncture treatments boost your immune system and improve the way your body reacts to allergens. Treatments may even make your body less sensitive to allergens.
• Decreasing Inflammation. Tissues in your nose become inflamed when your immune system releases histamines. Inflammation increases mucus production and swells the nasal passages, making breathing harder. Acupuncture may have a positive effect on cytokines, proteins that play a role in inflammation. Treatments help control cytokines and may reduce inflammation, helping you breathe easier.
• Reducing Headaches. Acupuncture is an effective way to combat headache pain caused by allergies. During treatments, your body increases production of endorphins and serotonin, hormones that reduce pain naturally.
• Tackling Fatigue. Whether you have nasal congestion or a runny nose, it's not easy to sleep through the night when you have seasonal allergies. Acupuncture eases nasal symptoms, making sleep easier. The same hormones that relieve pain also help you feel calmer and ready for a restful night of sleep.
• Easing Symptoms. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis published in the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy assessed the helpfulness of acupuncture for allergic rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis, also called hay fever, occurs when allergens irritate the nose. Participants in research studies examined by the researchers experienced a significant reduction in nasal symptom scores and needed less allergy medication.
• Improving Your Quality of Life. It's difficult to enjoy life when your nose won't stop running, your eyes itch, and your head throbs. Acupuncture plus conventional medicine was the most effective intervention in improving quality of life in a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Chinese Medicine.
• Reducing Fatigue. Dealing with allergy symptoms can be exhausting. Acupuncture boosts your energy level and helps combat the overwhelming fatigue that can accompany seasonal allergy symptoms.
• Offering an Alternative to Medication. Antihistamine medication is the standard way to treat allergens. Although the medication blocks histamines and eases symptoms, it can make you feel drowsy or cause blurry vision, headaches, dry mouth, and nausea. Fortunately, acupuncture controls symptoms without causing negative side effects. According to a research study published in Acupuncture in Medicine, acupuncture reduced seasonal allergy symptoms and significantly reduced antihistamine use.

Ready to find out if acupuncture can help your seasonal allergy symptoms? Call us to schedule your first appointment with the acupuncturist.

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: More Than a Quarter of U.S. Adults and Children Have at Least One Allergy, 1/26/2023

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2022/20220126.htm

Acupuncture in Medicine: Impact of Acupuncture on Antihistamine Use in Patients Suffering Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: Secondary Analysis of Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial, 6/2018

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6029641/#

American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy: Acupuncture for the Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, 1/1/2015

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2500/ajra.2015.29.4116

Chinese Medicine: Acupuncture Methods for Allergic Rhinitis: A Systematic Review and Bayesian Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials, 10/12/2020

https://cmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13020-020-00389-9

Acupuncture in Medicine: Impact of Acupuncture on Antihistamine Use in Patients Suffering Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: Secondary Analysis of Results from a Randomised Controlled Trial, 6/1/2018

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1136/acupmed-2017-011382

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine: What Triggers Seasonal Allergies?, 5/21/2024

https://magazine.medlineplus.gov/article/what-triggers-seasonal-allergies