Stuffy sinuses, the nose-hose, itchy eyes and more. Allergies suck.

Australia has one of the highest rates of allergies in the world. Our local grass pollens in particular are considered ‘super-allergens’ and can cause year-round reactions.

For some people taking a daily antihistamine is enough to stop the worst. But for many people that doesn’t do it. The only medication that works feels like a sedative and has you chugging coffee just to function again.

Symptom relief is all well and good while you suffer. But what can we do about the cause of the issue? Can you change the way you react to allergies?

The root cause of allergies

In Chinese medicine the cause of allergies is more to do with your body’s protective shields than what you’re exposed to. Basically if you’re prone to allergies you’ve got holes in your natural flyscreen, or lack one entirely.

It’s similar to how some people just can’t say no when asked for a favour. Their boundaries lack a certain robustness or strength to withstand being pressed, and so they say yes even at great personal cost. Someone who suffers from year-round allergies lacks strength in a particular type of boundary, the one that protects us from pollens and other allergies.

What to do about it

This is how we treat allergies. We work on building up your screens. Strengthening your body’s ability to deal with the day-to-day allergens it’s exposed to without trigging a massive allergic response. This is a process, it doesn’t happen right away. Typically it involves acupuncture treatment with some support from Chinese herbs. Just like planting trees the best time to begin was years ago, the second best time is now.

We can also offer some symptomatic relief for nasty blocked sinuses, but the real work is the longer-term strengthening. For best results we recommend beginning treatment before the allergy seasons are in full swing.

So if you want to step onto the path of strengthening your barriers, and reacting less to what you can’t avoid, come on and see Misha.