- Prevention: if you know you’re prone to airborne allergies and your symptoms have not yet started, there’s still time to herb up— Jade Windscreen Formula (a.k.a. Yu Ping Feng San) and its various modifications (formulated specifically for you by your acupuncturist) can help you ward off the sniffles, sneezes, and congestion caused by your airborne foes. Take your herbs early and often, and get acupuncture to keep your immune system balanced. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4630930/
- If your symptoms have already started, talk to your acupuncturist about herbal formulas to address them. You would be amazed by how many herbs and formulas we have to soothe itchy or irritated eyes, runny nose, nasal congestion, sinus congestion, sneezing, and headaches!
- Nasal irrigation or lavage (saline rinse in one nostril and out the other) is an effective method of ridding your mucous membranes of pollens, dust, and other airborne irritants. The less prolonged exposure your nose and throat have to allergens, the less your body will be likely to react. Here’s a handy link for more information and instructions: https://www.webmd.com/allergies/ss/slideshow-nasal-irrigation
- Wash your hair and change your pillow case before going to bed. Out in the world, our hair collects airborne pollens and dust, and we rub our faces in each as we sleep. Again, limiting this contact lessens our bodies’ propensity to overreact! (A clean house and clean air filter help in this way, too, but keeping those microscopic irritants out of your face at night is particularly helpful.)
- Get acupuncture to clear your head! Acupuncture offers quick, effective alleviation of runny nose, nasal and sinus congestion, itchy eyes, watery eyes, sneezing, and other respiratory complaints, and it can safely be used with any of the above methods to treat allergies, especially with local needling and micro-current application. Results can be immediate!
Call Pohala at (503) 572-4196 to make an appointment with Malia Susee, L.Ac or Dr. Paresh Shelat ND, L.Ac for more information, prevention, and allergy relief.
