Allergy season is just around the corner, but it doesn’t have to be a major disturbance to your everyday.

Over 15% of the Australian population suffers from hay fever or allergic rhinitis – that’s more than 3.1 million people who are affected by this chronic respiratory condition! Every year when the pollen and dust picks up with the wind and as the weather warms up going into spring, those affected begin to have symptoms such as itchy watery eyes, sniffling, runny nose, sneezing, blocked sinuses, headaches, itchy throats, itchy skin and excess mucous production (which the body builds up to try and protect the body against these irritants).

As the weather starts to warm up, we notice that the trees and plants are starting to wake up and produce their beautiful blooms, which we all enjoy seeing, as this is a sign that summer is on its way and the cold weather is behind us, until next year! But with these blooms we also have the fear of breathing in evil pollen and dust spores which cause our systems to go haywire and freak out – this is when hay fever comes into play and our immune system reacts to try and prevent the body from attack.

Rather than reaching for the anti-histamines, which just clear up the symptoms and wreck havoc on our digestive system (and immune health!), here are a few tips on how to build up the body so that we can prevent it from being an issue in the first place!

Probiotics and gut health

If our gut is happy, so is our immune system and it increases our ability to fight off any irritants and not respond in such a reactive and sensitive way when exposed. So get started now – supplements, fermented foods such as kimchi or sauerkraut, or my favourite kombucha tea!

Boosting your immune system

Topping up our immune system with immune-building supplements such as a good quality vitamin C and zinc. Vitamin C is also useful in decreasing histamine levels, which your body produces in response to allergens.

Fats

Ensuring we are getting plenty of good fats, especially omega 3 in our diet or supplementing. Omega 3 is important in enabling the body to stop signalling for an inflammatory response – when we have hay fever and irritations our mucous membranes, in our sinuses in particular, swell up and create a build up of phlegm and mucous for protection.

Sleep

Making sure we are allowing ourselves enough time to rest and rejuvenate after a long hard day. When we get run down, our health suffers and our body is no longer able to fight pathogens as effectively and sometimes mistakenly identifies things as pathogenic and becomes reactive and hyper sensitive. Sometimes getting in a regular meditation session can help us unwind and feel more rested.

ACUPUNCTURE!!

The World Health Organisation recognised hay fever as one of the conditions that acupuncture is effective at treating. Research from 2013 (1) has shown that acupuncture can significantly decrease symptoms of hay fever with regular treatments. In the study in Germany at Charité University, researchers had 442 hay fever sufferers split up into 3 test groups. All were given anti-histamines. The 1st group was only given the anti histamines, the 2nd was also given 12 acupuncture sessions, and the 3rd group was given sham acupuncture. The acupuncture group were shown to have the most improvement in their hay fever symptoms, supporting that acupuncture is amazing at helping hay fever sufferers!

Come into the clinic and let us help you build up your body so that this year hay fever isn’t an issue! I know I’m already prepping for the season to come.

– Edwina

To make an appointment with Edwina, contact reception.

(1) Acupuncture in Patients With Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized Trial; Benno Brinkhaus, MD; Miriam Ortiz, MD; Claudia M. Witt, MD, MBA; Stephanie Roll, PhD; Klaus Linde, MD; Florian Pfab, MD; Bodo Niggemann, MD; Josef Hummelsberger, MD; András Treszl, PhD; Johannes Ring, MD, PhD; Torsten Zuberbier, MD; Karl Wegscheider, PhD; and Stefan N. Willich, MD, MPH; Feb. 19, 2013, Annals of Internal Medicine.