Have we simply accepted allergies as a life-long condition? It seems that everyone that has allergies will be expressing the symptoms of allergies (ex. sneezing, coughing, itchy eyes, drowsiness, trouble breathing, etc.) and exclaim out loud, “it’s just my allergies,” and continue to suffer with those symptoms for weeks, possibly months, and years. 

The medical industry can only go so far to diagnose you with allergies and then band-aide the symptoms with drugs. The drugs do not cure the cause of the allergy, nor do they cleanse the body of the allergen. The drugs do not strengthen your body to fight the allergens. Drugs just band-aid the symptoms temporarily. 

What is an allergy?

An allergy occurs is when a person reacts to certain substances in the environment called an allergen. An allergen to one person, may not he the same to another. Examples of allergens would be pollen, dust, pet dander, insects, mold, medications, foods, and so on. When the allergen comes in contact with a person who is allergic, it triggers an immune response so that the body releases antibodies. The antibodies attach themselves to mast cells, so that when the they come in contact with the allergen, there is a release of histamine. The result of histamine is inflammation, and depending on where the body is releasing the histamine, would depend on the symptoms. For example, if histamine is released in the nose, then the nose may become runny. If histamine is released in the throat, there may be extra phlegm and/or the throat may contract and breathing could become difficult. 

Medical doctor’s may prescribe antihistamines to block the histamine response or corticosteroids to treat the inflammation itself. Rarely are other options even explored. 

So what do you do if that’s not good enough for you? What do you do if you do not want to depend on a medication blocking your body’s innate response to an allergen? What are your other options?

As a chiropractor my answer is chiropractic and here is why…Chiropractic is about total nervous system function. Chiropractic does not treat allergies, nor any symptom, however, it restores function to the nervous system with chiropractic adjustments. Chiropractors adjust areas of the body that add pressure to the nervous system creating dysfunction in the nerve’s ability to transfer information from the brain to the body, and from the body to the brain. The nervous system controls every other system in your body including the immune system. By allowing your body’s nervous system to function and flow freely, without interference from misalignments in the joints, then you could deductively say that chiropractic will ultimately allow the immune system to function and flow freely too!

As with everything, further research is needed, however below are some studies that have amazing results of minimizing allergies just by adding chiropractic care to the healing journey. 

In a 2008 study from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, a 7 year old male suffered from chronic colds, allergies, and asthma, since he was 5 months old. On his initial visit with the chiropractor he was on a once per day prescription of Alavertaˆ and Ventolinaˆ. The mother reported that since her son’s first year of school, he missed 1-2 days of school a month from the “cold” and asthma. He also required monthly visits to the doctor. 

In just two weeks of chiropractic care, the parents elected to discontinue the allergy medicine their son was on with success. After two months, the chiropractic care plan was completed, however the parents elected that their child be on the continued “wellness plan” which consisted of a chiropractic visit once every 3-4 weeks. In just 5 months of care, the child didn’t miss any school days due to illness.

In a 2018 case study in Journal Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health, a 9 year old boy was treated with diversified chiropractic technique. He had a long list of co-morbidities including chronic asthma and food allergies, as well as, constipation, diarrhea, ADHD, and eczema. At his chiropractic re-evaluations, he had not been to the hospital for his asthma and he reduced his need for asthma medication from 4 times a day to an as-need basis. HIs sleep, constipation, diarrhea, and eczema also improved. His grades improved, and he no longer required “special needs accommodations” for ADHD. 

In my personal experience, I used to despise Spring because my allergy symptoms were drastic. They caused fatigue, excess sneezing, itchy eyes, sinus infections, and colds. The Fall season was almost as bad. It wasn’t until I started under consistent and regular chiropractic care in 2016, that my allergies subsided and now it’s not an issue at all.

As always, further research is needed, but it’s difficult to get the funding for this type of research since the return of investment is null to major corporations. Chiropractors do not bring in the trillions of dollars that a pharmaceuticals do, and pharmaceutical companies will not fund research to prove that their product isn’t necessarily needed.  

So… it brings us back to chiropractic’s ability to improve nervous system function. The nervous system is the controller and powerhouse for the immune system and by bringing optimal function to your body, then your body will be able to adapt to allergens with more ease!

Thanks for reading the Cypress Chiropractic & Wellness Health Blog. Until the next topic, stay healthy!