Any person who suffers from a chronic health problem, from consistent back-pain to arthritis to sinusitis lives an existence defined by their condition. Life becomes a frustrating, exhausting search through scores of medical texts, seeing a wide range of doctors and therapists and trying to find any potion or medication that might bring relief to the sufferer. It becomes extremely hard to go about a daily routine when very few sufferers ever see a way to lessening their symptoms; a constant state of wondering what the next symptoms will surface each new day. In fact, for most of us, we simply learn how to live with the pain or the discomfort, realizing we will be forever limiting our fitness goals by our particular problem.
Allergy suffers are considered in this small group of chronic suffers where they don’t particularly experience pain, like a chronic back sufferer or a person with migraines, but their overall quality of life is lessened with allergy sensitivities to food and air quality and the overall constant feeling of sickness. Avoiding foods is one thing, and most allergy
sufferers know fully which allergens to stay away from. But the itchy, tearing eyes, sinus
drip or stuffiness, sinus headache are all symptoms of much deeper problem. There is an imbalance in the allergy sufferer’s system, an imbalance western medicine does not seem to address…but the Eastern world of medicine including acupuncture does!
Although it is not exactly known how acupuncture works to control allergies, the overall theory to this ancient Chinese treatment is to alleviate certain blocked pathways of the body called meridians, allowing the sufferers body to begin to heal itself and be able to function the way it should correctly. In fact, western medicine agrees that allergies are a reaction from anti-bodies produced by lymphocytes reacting with airborne particles; the classic sneezing when a person is exposed to pollen. These lymphocytes are located all around particulars within the body including our spleen, lymph nodes, and stomach. An acupuncturist treats these very places on the body when administering a treatment through inserting needles to specific points.
In fact one of the main concerns of Chinese medicine is to make sure the gut or stomach is working, that the patient’s bowels and digestion are active and that food is being digested properly. With this movement, Chinese medicine theorizes good health is obtained and maintained by the body healing itself and there would never be lymphocytes reactions. The Chinese believe these reactions which can be represented as allergies, soar throats, and even cancer can occur when the body is unbalanced and the organs are being overworked. When all these symptoms are occurring daily, exercising becomes the last thing on a person’s mind when they are feeling sick constantly.
If we come to see allergies or any disease as less of a symptom and more towards finding the correct causes and solving the problem, many times it forces people to turn their back on the western approach to medicine. In American, this is a radical shifting of our perceptions and theories. If we attack the symptom by buying over-the-counter medicines or running to our physicians for prescription drugs, we actually are gaining some brief relief, not solving the causes. And while this is a welcomed change from our illness, especially if it is a chronic condition, very soon we will be back to where we are, suffering all over again.
For athletes who find themselves staying inside during a certain season or time of the year due to their suffering of allergens, changing their exercise routine from being outdoors to indoors can shock their system. From breathing outside air to inside air changes your lung capacity and when you begin to exercise outside again, after the dreadful season has passed, your lungs will need sometime to adjust. Acupuncture can very well start us on our way to letting our bodies create and sustain a healthy, overall fitness routine regardless of what the outdoor air brings.