Acupuncture Could Help Treat Your Hay Fever (Rhinitis) Symptoms
If you suffer from hay fever, you know just how miserable it can make you feel. Depending on the time of year and the severity of your symptoms, hay fever can even impact your performance at work or at school. Sometimes just getting through a normal day can feel like a challenge.
Hay fever is the common term for a medical condition known as allergic rhinitis. Simply put, it’s an allergic response to a trigger in the environment. Unfortunately, most hay fever triggers—like pollen—are unavoidable. Yet it is possible to control the symptoms. Conventional treatments for hay fever usually include antihistamines and nasal sprays.
Acupuncture, either as a stand-alone treatment or as a complement to medicinal treatments, can also provide both short-term relief from specific hay fever symptoms and longer-term treatment for the chronic, underlying conditions that may make you more susceptible to allergens in the environment. If you suffer from seasonal allergies and think acupuncture might offer you some relief, we encourage you to make an appointment with a licensed acupuncturist for a consultation.
Causes of Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
Allergic rhinitis is commonly called hay fever because it is usually associated with seasonal allergies. In other words, your body has an allergic response triggered by various types of pollen produced by trees, flowers, and grass. When you suffer from seasonal allergies depends in large part on where you live, the types of flora that grow in your region, and when they naturally produce triggers your body is allergic to.
The most common environmental triggers include:
- Tree pollen (early spring)
- Grass pollen (late spring and summer)
- Ragweed pollen (fall)
- Mold and fungi spores (can be either seasonal or perennial)
However, hay fever can also include indoor allergens such as:
- Dust mites
- Cockroaches
- Pet dander (dried particles of skin, saliva, and urine that become airborne)
Symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)
Allergic Rhinitis (hay fever or seasonal allergies) is easy to confuse with the common cold. Many of the symptoms are very similar, even if the underlying cause is very different: environmental allergy triggers for hay fever and a virus for the common cold. Common symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Nasal congestion (i.e. a “runny nose”)
- Post-nasal drip
- Sneezing
- Coughing
- Difficulty breathing or wheezing
- Itchy, watery, or red eyes
- Itchy nose and throat
- Swollen discoloration in the skin under the eyes
- Itchy skin or a rash
Allergic Rhinitis and Acupuncture
Acupuncture can help some patients find relief from seasonal allergies or hay fever in two ways.
First, acupuncture can help provide immediate relief from specific symptoms. For instance, stimulating acupuncture points around the nose and sinuses can help relieve nasal congestion and sneezing associated with seasonal allergies. Acupuncture points on the feet can be associated with itchy, watery eyes. And there are a variety of acupuncture points around the body that can help calm and soothe an immune system that has been sent into overdrive by the presence of allergens in the environment.
Second, acupuncture can offer some patients longer-term relief by stimulating the body’s natural defenses. Acupuncture is believed to help boost the immune system and help the body fight inflammation. Therefore, multiple acupuncture treatments in advance of allergy season can help your body develop a more appropriate—and less miserable—response to common environmental triggers.
If you suffer from seasonal allergies, and believe you might benefit from acupuncture, the first step is to make an appointment with a licensed and experienced acupuncturist. He or she can work with you—as well as with your allergist and primary care physician—to develop a comprehensive treatment plan. In some cases, this may involve multiple treatments over time, and scheduled at various times of the year to coincide with your specific hay fever triggers.
Contact Urban Acupuncture Center in Columbus, OH For More Information
For more information about how acupuncture, massage therapy and other alternative healing treatments can help you, please contact the Urban Acupuncture Center Board Certified Licensed Acupuncturist’s team at Indianola Ave, Clintonville (614) 725-2488 | Main St, Westerville (614) 426-4406 or click here. Taking new patients in and around greater Columbus, Ohio.