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In Chinese Medicine both hay fever and sinus infections are often caused by imbalance in the lung and stomach meridians.
In Western medicine we say that this is the result of an overactive immune system, which is sensitive to allergens. This leads to the over production of histamine which your doctor will combat with antihistamines and steroids.
Although this treatment may work short term, it ignores the root cause of the problem. Chinese medicine believes that hay fever is a direct result of a deficiency in the lung meridian. This is because the function of the lung in the body is to protect the skin. Chi runs around the skin, helping our circulation and protecting our body. ‘We’ means protection so the energy protecting our outer body is called ‘we chi’.
Therefore once the lung energy is blocked, our defensive chi becomes unstable and this triggers an immune system response. Because the body feels that protection is lacking from the skin, it believes it must make more histamine to protect itself better and this is what leads to the runny nose, watery eyes, itching and sneezing.
People with this condition have clear liquid nasal discharge, coughing and can be very sensitive to wind, cold weather or any change in climate. Chinese medicine can use acupuncture to strengthen lung function and re-balance the protective chi, and moxibustion to warm up the body and balance the immune system.
The Chinese say ‘catch the wind’ in the same way we say ‘catch a cold’ and catching the wind equals an imbalance in the lung meridian. Chinese Medicine balances the immune system, clearing the wind by stimulating points on the lung meridian.
A second contributory factor of hay fever is a build up of toxic heat in the stomach meridian. If the energy is blocked in this channel, it is possible the body has built up toxins from food or stress and there is too much heat in the body. This makes the body particularly sensitive to allergies. Symptoms include yellow nasal discharge, stuffy head, headache, and stuffy nasal passages. Acupuncture can work on points on the nose to expel the excess heat from the body and restore balance.
Chinese herbs are often prescribed with acupuncture depending on each individuals particular case.
Care Cure are Ireland's leading TCM specialists. If you suffer from hay fever and are looking for a natural and effective solution please avail of our free consultation. We have clinics in Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.
We have a number of natural Chinese Herbal products in our online shop for Hay Fever and Sinus issues.