Acupuncture for Allergies | Kelowna

At Acupuncture Kelowna, we love using Acupuncture for allergies. 

 Using acupuncture for allergies is incredibly common. It is a safe and effective way to treat:

• Seasonal Allergies

• Food allergies and intolerances

• Hives

• Asthma

• Eczema

• Allergic Sinusitis

One of the great aspects of Chinese medicine is how it considers environmental and emotional factors to be causes of disease. This means that we recognize that at certain seasons your body may feel like it is more stressed than normal. That stress can lead to all sorts of issues, including allergies. We also know that when we are under a lot of emotional stress and pressure, our immune system suffers. The result is increased inflammation and an up-tic in pre-existing allergies.

How your Liver health impacts allergies

The Liver plays a massive role in the overall function and efficiency of our body systems. We know from both a Western and Eastern perspective that it:

·      Detoxifies – it essentially cleans the blood.

·     Metabolizes important chemicals and hormones in the body – it sort of acts as the engine in a machine, and works to make sure what needs to be metabolized is transformed and moved to other organs of elimination.

In Chinese Medicine the Liver also:

·      Regulates emotions and acts as a first line of defense against stress.

 This means that if we are overly stressed by certain life factors; relationships, work, concerns related to parents or children, etc., Or by environmental factors; seasons, cold, heat, etc., our Liver takes the brunt of this stress. Over time if we don’t deal with the underlying factors or treat our Liver, we develop more and more chronic conditions.

 How acupuncture can help treat allergies

One way to think about it is when we are young our body typically functions with ease. Over the course of our lives we encounter different stressors related to life, environment, food, or sleep our Liver becomes less proficient at its ability to metabolize and detoxify. Over time and again if left untreated 2 things can happen:

1.     Toxins in the system build up and wreak havoc on other systems via inflammation. This leads to a host of other symptoms that may seem ‘weird’ or unrelated.

2.     The Liver function starts to get worse and worse and its ability to detox slows and thus exacerbates point number 1.

 By cleaning up your system you help your liver process life and life-related stressors which can greatly improve your allergies. One thing Acupuncture helps with is circulation. It helps blood flow more efficiently in the system. Using the meridians we can target blood flow in the Liver and thus increase its ability to function.

Study demonstrates acupuncture’s effectiveness in the treatment of allergies

1. This 2015 study found that acupuncture was effective in reducing the symptoms of allergic rhinitis compared to a placebo or no treatment.

In conjunction with Acupuncture to treat allergies you must not ignore the importance of the following factors.

1. Diet

2. Exercise

3. Adequate sleep (no less than 6.5 hours a night)

These are by far the three most important factors to help reduce inflammatory load but we shouldn’t forget that getting the right amount of water into our system daily is also essential. Depending on who you see at Acupuncture Kelowna we also use Chinese Herbal Medicine to treat allergies. Paula is trained in this modality.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

We look forward to working with you.

Paula, Jadd & Stephanie @ Acupuncture Kelowna