Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine = Allergy Relief
Finding Solutions for Debilitating Allergies, Painful Sinus Headaches, and More

How a patient found solutions for her debilitating allergies, painful sinus headaches, menopausal symptoms, and more.

E.C., a 50-year old Andover resident, had suffered from allergies for only about five weeks, when she  visited FirstHealth of Andover and consulted with me on her condition. E.C. had been examined and diagnosed by her primary care provider who prescribed a common allergy medication. She was experiencing ever increasing symptoms of itchy eyes, post nasal drip, and painful sinus headaches. She was concerned about taking her medication because her past medical history included intermittent menopausal symptoms, restless leg syndrome and chronic immune fatigue deficiency syndrome (CIFDS), which many may recognize as chronic fatigue syndrome. She was concerned the medications had made her feel even more dry and thirsty as well as fatigued. She could not afford to have these two conditions become aggravated while trying to treat her newly diagnosed allergies. What to do? She wanted to know if we had any solutions.

Allergy Sufferers Frustrated with Medications

This patient is not alone in her search for solutions to allergy symptoms, which have become less seasonal and more year round. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease reports more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergic diseases. Allergies have become the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in our country. People are looking everywhere for relief. When your friends notice your runny nose, sneezing fits and your attempts to scratch your own eyes out, they usually want to help by referring you to a product or service that has helped them. Drug store sales of allergy/sinus tablets increased 17.8% for the year ended by January 22^nd as stated by the Chain Drug Review (May 2006). They go on to note an annual volume of $1.1 billion in drug store sales alone in the country. While this amount of money reflects a strong trend in choices for treatment, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America reported in their March survey that nearly a third (31%) of allergy patients are not satisfied with their current prescription allergy medication.  The reason pointed out in the survey for these respondents being dissatisfied is that their current medication does not relieve their allergy symptoms for a long enough period of time. The survey also found that 47% of patients are taking multiple allergy prescription drugs, while 36% reported taking their prescription allergy drugs with non-prescription allergy medications. This is not only expensive, but raises some concern with health care providers about the safety of such practices.  People are still looking for solutions. Let’s read on to see how our patient from Andover made out with her worrisome symptoms.

Acupuncture to the Rescue!

The main symptom that drove E.C. into our clinic was to get relief from continual pain of sinus headaches. The pressure, facial discomfort along with her drippy runny nose and itchy eyes was getting to be too much to handle. We began her treatments with a course of acupuncture, which is widely used to successfully treat such symptoms. Acupuncture’s effects as an anti-inflammatory, analgesic (pain relief) and circulatory agent can be used on the tight hard-to-reach sinus membranes just as we use these qualities to help painful tight muscles. Acupuncture does not react with any medication whether it’s prescription or over-the-counter and does not have the side effects that raised concerns with our patient. The patient reported relief from sinus pressure and pain even after the first treatment with an alleviation of some of the “foggy headed” feeling she described in her initial visit.  Over the next couple weeks E.C. reported no sinus headaches, less or no itchy eyes and more physical and mental energy. She began a walking regime and felt good about her progress. She described herself as 80% improved in her allergy symptoms.

Options Are a Good Thing

Working with her physician, E. C. then stopped all her allergy medications that had been prescribed and her use of over-the-counter drugs. They had experienced sufficient allergy relief and the medications may have contributed to difficult falling and staying asleep. Menopausal symptoms were becoming more noticeable and her doctor agreed to see how she felt without them. This is a good example of how we at FirstHealth of Andover work with your existing health care providers. The patient was taking prescription medications at the time of her first visit. This is typical in our society, and we use acupuncture as an adjunct therapy. It’s safe and effective for many conditions. The first goal is to help a patient feel better, while on their medication. We help to reduce the gap in care that often exists. Patients feel better on their medications, but not good enough. As we are able to assist them with relief, there may be a choice to reduce or eliminate some or all of their medications. That is up to the patient and their doctors. In E.C.’s case she was able to work with her physician to see how she felt without her allergy medications. Let’s get back to our patient and see how this ends up.

More Customized Herbal Medicines Provide Allergy Relief and More

Perimenopausal symptoms were becoming more of an issue. She reported an increasing number of hot flashes, irregular menstruation, mood swings along with the CIFDS symptoms of unrefreshing sleep, which led to greater fatigue. Allergy symptoms were still improved and restless leg syndrome flared up with poor sleep. We decided to add Chinese herbal medicine as an adjunct therapy to her acupuncture. The combination worked well. As she began to feel consistently better, we cut back on her acupuncture visits. We found that the herbal medicine could successfully treat her allergy, menopausal, restless leg and CIFDS symptoms. She used acupuncture therapy on an as needed basis for any acute symptoms and managed the other conditions with our customized Chinese herbal medicine. Her office visits were infrequent, and we could modify her custom herbal prescription if a new symptom appeared, as was done successfully to treat her night sweats and poor sleep. With her energy level consistent and symptoms managed, our patient is free to enjoy her life and family. That’s the goal … Freedom. 

- David Sollars, M.Ac., Lic.Ac., H.M.C