Pollen alert

Lasting treatments for hay fever with TCM

The coming of spring heralds the arrival of irritating pollen, and the pollen season is getting longer and longer. Treatments using techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine such as acupuncture and cupping are effective in the prevention of pollen allergies and provide lasting protection.

Hay fever is an inflammatory reaction to one or more types of pollen. The immune system reacts to the proteins in the pollen, although in themselves they are harmless. Typical symptoms include bouts of sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy and weeping eyes, and itchiness in the gums, nose and ears. Pollen allergies are often accompanied by fatigue, insomnia and a reduction in performance.

Significantly increased risk of asthma

From one year to the next, a pollen allergy can develop into an allergic asthma. This entails a chronic inflammation of the airways, shortness of breath, a dry cough and the tightness in the chest that is typical of asthma. In other words, hay fever is not as harmless as many people imagine it to be. It is essential to take pollen allergies seriously and have them treated. The methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine are a natural alternative to medicine-based treatments with their unpredictable side effects.

Weakened immune system as a key cause

The reason the body may produce allergic (i.e. inflammatory) overreactions lies in a weakening of the immune system. Its resistance is already formed during childhood. The immune system is strengthened when, for example in the case of a cold, it expels inflammatory substances from the body through fever and the formation of mucus in the nose and bronchial tubes and breaks them down as far as possible. TCM does not see this as part of an illness but as a natural healing process. If it is halted, for example by taking medication, inflammatory substances will remain in the body and create a latent risk of allergy. Over time, the immune system becomes accustomed to taking this “easy option”. The body enters a vicious circle in which the infectious loads become steadily greater and ever more frequent while the body’s defence mechanism grows weaker and weaker.

Reactivating the flow of the life energy Qi

For Traditional Chinese Medicine, a weak immune system is evidence of disruptions in the flow of the life energy Qi and a lack of Qi. The harmful substances that enter the body during an infection inhibit or block the flow of Qi in the meridians and organs and cause the allergic overreaction. Appropriate TCM therapies aim to channel out and eliminate the harmful substances. This process is accompanied by the elimination of moisture and mucus via the mucus membranes and ultimately restores the flow of Qi. The symptoms subside and risk of allergy is considerably reduced.

Prevention and healing

TCM therapies are suitable both for preventive treatments and the long-term elimination of hay fever allergies. They usually involve acupuncture combined with cupping and a herbal therapy. TCM treatments achieve the best results when started several weeks before the pollen season begins. When the time comes, the immune system is then already prepared to provide a stronger reaction to the pollen. Lasting resistance is achieved if TCM therapies are repeated over a number of years and targeted at the recipient's current health situation in each case.