Early Spring Allergies
To better understand allergies, we have to understand that allergies are an immune system response - your body is trying to protect itself! There are several ways allergies can appear: rashes, breakouts, sneezing, scratchy eyes, puffiness, runny and stuffy nose, coughing, chest tightness, headaches, sore throats, asthma, and more! Many treat themselves with over the counter medicine, like antihistamines such as Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra. These drugs are helpful in just treating uncomfortable symptoms (much like a band-aid), they fail to provide a permanent cure or get to the root of the problem. A holistic approach on the other hand, will address the root of the problem. In Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, the presence of allergies is seen as an underlying imbalance in the body and a weakness of the body's defensive network, known as Wei Qi - this can some times mean an imbalances in the liver, lung and spleen systems. Th...