Allergies and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Allergies !!

It seems I address this topic every year and sadly it never seems to lose relevance since each subsequent year is reported as “the worst on record”. How an acupuncturist sees allergies is a weakness in Defensive Qi. Your Defensive Qi flows on the surface of your body blocking would be attackers – everything from viruses, bacteria, pollen and other allergens – which are categorized merely as “wind”. When symptoms show up, this is called a “wind invasion” and indicates a weakness in your defensive barrier. This is probably no surprise to any of you who suffer from allergies, because when the wind picks up the symptoms are generally worse. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are helpful in combating not only the symptoms, by expelling this external wind, but also in preventing allergies or reducing their severity by strengthening the Defensive Qi. Additionally, all of my allergy patients are given home care instructions:

WATCH YOUR DIET!

With both conventional and Traditional Chinese medicine, the health of the digestive system is of paramount importance to the health of the immune system and should be addressed immediately. I can’t seem to stress this enough with my allergy patients. To improve Defensive Qi eat a whole food diet as much as possible, which means stay away from processed foods – especially processed sugars and grains. If there’s a lot of congestion also steer clear of damp foods – dairy (of ALL kinds) and beer (of ALL kinds) are to two biggest contributors to increased mucus hanging out in your nose, throat, and lungs. Also, if you have any food sensitivities (corn, wheat, soy, and eggs are common ones), stay away from offending morsels!

STRESS & SLEEP

Also very important to the health of the immune system is managing one’s stress. There are already numerous studies out there that show a correlation between high stress and depression of the immune system. Two of the most important thing we can do to manage stress and improve the function of our immune system (even independent of stress) is to get adequate exercise AND sleep. While acupuncture and Chinese herbs can’t get you off the couch, they are both useful in stress and sleep management.

LIVING WITH ALLERGIES IN THE DESERT

Not only do Las Vegans have to deal with the allergens floating about, but we also have to deal with DRYNESS! This can be helpful in some ways, especially if someone tends toward a lot of congestion. HOWEVER, we rely on the integrity of the mucus membranes of our respiratory system to provide a barrier to external invaders. Because it’s so dry here, that can be trickier than it seems. Here are some helpful hints.

1 – Sleep with at least a humidifier and maybe an air purifier as well. A decent humidifier can be found for under $30 and is an excellent investment.

2 – Use a Neti Pot

OK! OK! Yes the Neti Pot is generally very drying, but it is still useful in irrigating allergens out of the nasal passages. My advice is to NOT use it every day – maybe only 1 to 2 times per week. However, you can use it more often if you have a lot of drainage OR you’re not blowing blood tinged snot out of your nose. (Blood = too dry). ALSO clean your Neti Pot after each use and use distilled/filtered/boiled water only. NEVER EVER use water straight from the tap. Some of you may have seen some inflammatory headlines. I would like to clarify that Neti Pots are peaceful, loving, useful household tools used to combat nasal congestion. However, if improperly used, they can wield some nasty brain eating amoeba or other unsavory microbe. So again, for your health and safety, clean your Neti Pot after each use, fill your Neti Pot with distilled/filtered/boiled water only, and NEVER EVER use water directly from the tap or some other “nefarious” water source.

3 – Use a lubricant on your nasal passages

This is a new one for a number of my patients. Sometimes a humidifier is not enough and extra moisturizing is required. My favorite is Nasya Oil, which is a traditional Ayurvedic remedy and can be picked up from a number of online retailers. Nasya Oil is made of a base oil (often sesame) with a number of Ayurvedic herbs designed to heal and open the nasal passages. It’s applied warm either by placing a couple of drops in each nostril while lying down or by placing a couple of drops on an applicator (usually one’s pinky finger will suffice) and rubbing it around the inside of each nostril. As you may have guessed, it’s best to do this right at bedtime. Nasya Oil is not recommended in pregnancy and some people find the smell less than enjoyable. In these cases I suggest either plain warm sesame oil (NOT the kind you cook with) or extra virgin coconut oil. BONUS: If nasal lubricant is used nightly one may also be able to increase the frequency of Neti Pot use.

Bud