Come spring or fall so many people complain about allergies. Whether it’s sniffling and sneezing or watery eyes itchy ears and throats. Allergies are irritating, annoying, and tend to interfere with daily function. There are so many products available to treat “allergies” it gets down right confusing.
Essentially what’s going on in the body is an auto-immune response where the body is over producing histamine to cope with an influx of foreign molecules (pollen, dander, dust or even chemicals) which are over whelming the body. This is experienced as an allergy attack as certain tissues are overwhelmed. The question then becomes, why is the body over whelmed? And how can we help it? Most allergy medications tend to remove the symptoms but don’t treat the problem, and in desperation for relief we take these medicines to cope instead of fixing the system.
As a homeopath, when I treat my patients with allergies, I tend to follow a specific protocol. A gentle drainage of a congested system is necessary. Getting rid of the back log can minimise some of the reactions. Usually some combination of Gemmo-therapy is used. A Gemmo tincture like Ribes Nigrum helps with the inflammation process by reducing swollen tissue. Rosmarinus tincture is a liver and Gall bladder drainer. Viburnum Lantana helps with respiratory drainage. Most formulas are personalized depending on the causation and symptoms present. There are also acute homeopathic remedies for the management of symptoms in allergy attacks for example Allium Cepa which should help with watery eyes and runny noses.
Then I prescribe a constitutional remedy which addresses the person as a whole and all of their issues simultaneously. This practice raises a patients overall health and immunity and tends to reduce the intensity of the symptoms experienced. In conjunction with the Bowen technique’s Respiratory and TMJ moves the symptoms tend to decrease by 25-50% annually.
Allergy patients are encouraged to use a hydration formula where an infusion of red clover, birch bark, and dandelion root is drunk four times a day. Patients are encouraged eliminate foods which may increase their personal sensitivity for example lactose or gluten. People are encouraged to eat large quantities of dark green, slightly bitter vegetables, as they are helpful with the detoxification of the blood.
By utilising these protocols systemic health can be qualitatively improved. This reduces the likelihood of the body over reacting and producing too much histamine and thereby a systemic overreaction. It is this overall improvement which will improve the intensity, frequency, and severity of allergy attacks.
Alexis Touyz, Bowen Therapist
See part 2 of this blog post here.