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Allergies

Seasonal Allergies

Most people who suffer from seasonal allergies feel that their symptoms are getting worse each and every year. Allergy medicine only works temporarily and you need stronger ones as symptoms worsen. Allergy shots work great for the first year but get less effective as time progresses. Is there any other permanent solution for that? In Oriental medicine, allergies are signs of weakness in our body’s defense system. However, allergy medicines that most people use are actually weakening our body’s defense mechanism to reduce the symptoms. 

The situation is similar to an emergency due to a terror alert that police will arrest people even though they are not harmful. Allergy medicine is like making the police sleep to reduce resistance from the people. During the period, terrorists or robberies may harm the city.

The solution is reinforcing our defense mechanism, rather than weakening. To improve emergency situations, we should not introduce potentially harmful substances into our body. These days, there are so many foods where origins are unknown to our body. Reducing those in everyday diet will keep our body’s defense mechanism intact.

Also, changes in your diet habit can improve your symptom. If you drink too much cold drink or consume cold food, it will actually injure Lung system, which is responsible for air-bone immune reaction, to make symptoms worse. Acupuncture treatment and Herbal medication can restore balances in your body to reduce symptoms and improve your immune system.

Case 1: 49-year-old male
He came to our office for seasonal allergy symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, red eyes with tears and asthma during the night. He's been suffering from those symptoms for years but he just took some allergy medication for the temporary relief. However, symptoms were getting worse as the years went by.
After the first treatment with herbal medication, he reported that symptoms were very light even though the weather has been warm to aggravate the symptoms. He also reported his urinary symptoms got better with less urgent and frequent. Also, his teary eyes are improved as well.
Due to his fear of needle, he wanted to stop and get more herbal medication for the time being. He was also advised to stay away from processed foods such as sodas, sugary cereals, salty snacks, and spicy food to prevent worsening of symptoms.


Food Allergies

Food allergy symptoms can vary from minor (itching or swelling in mouth or throat) to life-threatening (anaphylaxis). You may just avoid those allergenic ingredients in your diet but sometimes it is not enough because the ingredient might be hidden. If your digestive system is healthy and strong, foreign substances(proteins) will be digested into small pieces(amino acid) and filtered well enough not to make any issues. Small intestine is the organ which absorbs nutrients from the food and also is the main gate which foreign substances may come into our system unfiltered. If you have any ulcers or inflammation in your digestive system especially in your small intestine, you have a good chance to develop food allergies. Stomach also can be a source of a problem if it can't break down food well enough physically and chemically. You may develop food allergies during the course of your life if your digestive system fails to protect your body from those foreign substances.

Babies who have a weaker digestive system may have some allergy symptoms but get it over as they grow. An adult may develop food allergies due to busy stressful lifestyle and eating habits which generally affects the condition of your digestive system. To reduce risks or overcome the symptoms, you should chew well(eat slowly) and avoid any spicy food or medications which may aggravate the condition of your digestive system while staying away from the allergenic ingredient. To speed up the healing process of your digestive system, you need to eat bland taste food with lots of fibers. The complete reconstruction of the damaged digestive system takes much longer than the destruction. You may introduce allergenic ingredient one by one after you've been in good digestive condition for more than several months. At that time, your bowel movement should be consistently firm with light brown color without any undigested food in it. Acupuncture and herbal medication can help to recover from food allergies by speeding up the natural healing process of the damaged lining of stomach or small intestine.