Seasonal allergies affect about 20 percent of the American population. Millions of dollars are spent each season by people looking for allergy relief. If you are looking for a solution from the sneezing, runny nose, and itchy watery eyes, you might want to consider acupuncture.

How Allergies Affect Your Body

Some people are hypersensitive to specific airborne particles such as grass pollen, ragweed, and other weed pollens that are prevalent during spring and fall. Sneezing, runny nose, and itchy, watery eyes are your body’s way of trying to get rid of these irritants. While many people try to treat their symptoms with both over-the-counter and prescription medicines, allergy shots, and even surgery in extreme cases, these treatment methods can come with unpleasant side effects. Studies have shown acupuncture to be a safe and effective treatment method that can significantly reduce or even eliminate dependence on other forms of treatment.

How Acupuncture Affects Your Body

This type of medicine has been practiced for a few thousand years in Eastern cultures. The Eastern thinking revolves around qi (pronounced “chee”), or energy flow. Normal qi travels smoothly throughout the body through subdivisions. When this energy flow is disrupted, the body reacts with disease and pain. Placing needles in the proper position corrects this disruption by releasing the energy blocks and re-establishing normal qi flow. This reboots the body’s natural ability to heal itself.

Practiced in the U.S. since the 1970s, Western medicine has shown that these needles stimulate the nervous system to release hormones and endorphins. These chemicals are released into the blood stream, spinal cord, and brain, stimulating the body’s natural ability to heal. This results in physical and emotional well-being.

A Safe and Effective Treatment

A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal showed promising results. In three different groups, the group that was treated with needles placed in the proper position showed more improvement than either the group with randomly placed needles or the group treated with just antihistamines. Most people treated by a proper acupuncturist as either the primary or a complementary treatment method showed a quick response and  were able to reduce their need for medication to treat seasonal allergies.

The needles used are hair-thin, FDA-approved, sterile, disposable, and made of solid steel. These tiny needles are inserted just under the skin at specific points. Adverse effects are rare, with fewer side effects reported than many of conventional drugs. Once the treatment has stimulated an adequate response, most people can be weaned off treatments.

Summary

If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from seasonal allergies, consider looking for an acupuncturist with experience and a good success rate with treating allergies. This practice has been growing in popularity. You might be able to find relief without the annoying side effects of conventional medicine.

To learn more about how acupuncture can help you, contact the Pain Care Clinic of Idaho at 208-629-2492 or visit paincareclinicofidaho.com.