Late Summer Seasonal Allergies


By Alexa Gilmore, L.Ac I


t’s July, and we all know what that means: allergy season is upon us! Wait, what? “Sure, it’s July,” you may be thinking, “but this isn’t allergy season. This is the time of year I actually get a BREAK from my allergies, a break from the sneezing and runny nose of springtime and the itchy eyes and dry cough that hit me un- relentingly in the fall. Allergy season…what is she talking about?” Curious? Read on. The technical name for what we call “allergies” or “hay fever” is allergic rhinitis. It’s an infl ammation of the nasal membranes and is characterized by a symptom complex with which we’re all famil- iar: sneezing; sinus congestion; runny nose; itchy or watery eyes; itchy nose, roof of the mouth, or throat; decreased sense of smell or taste. For those of you who suffer, you know symptoms can run the gamut from mildly irritating to nearly incapacitating. Though not caused by a virus, serious allergy sufferers can feel just as knocked out as if they’d caught the fl u. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and


Immunology, nasal allergies are on the rise, with an ever-increasing prevalence affecting as many as 30 percent of adults and 40 percent of children. While not a life-threatening condition, complications can occur and the condition can signifi cantly impact quality of life—just ask your friend who has to dope up on allergy meds or call in sick to work for all the mucus he’s dripping. The total direct and indirect cost of allergic rhinitis has recently been estimated at $5.3 billion per year in the U.S. So, what’s to be done? Western medicine’s approach typi-


cally employs one or more of the following: 1) allergen avoidance; 2) pharmacological management of symptoms such as use of antihistamines, decongestants, or steroids; and 3) immunotherapy (i.e. allergy shots). These treatments can be effective, but they also may have undesirable side effects and they tend to focus more on managing or suppressing symptoms than on actually resolving the problem. This buys a patient temporary relief but leaves him or her stuck on a seasonal (not-so-) merry-go-round of symptom manage- ment. From a Chinese Medicine perspective, we’re also interested


in managing your symptoms--they’re what brought you in to the offi ce, after all, and we know you want some relief! However, we don’t want to stop there. While addressing your sneezing, cough, and drippy nose, we also always have an eye toward correcting the “root” cause of those “branch” symptoms. As a practitioner of Chi- nese Medicine, I don’t just want to stop your sneezing; I want to un- derstand WHY you’re sneezing and address that root imbalance so you stop sneezing in an intrinsic way--from the inside out. Where is the imbalance in your system that leaves you so particularly suscep- tible to these “allergic” infl uences? What can I do to correct that, and get you off of the symptom merry-go-round for good? Still wondering what in the world this has to do with July?


We’re almost there. www.EssentialLivingMaine.com 17 In treating the whole person rather than just his or her symp-


toms, practitioners of Chinese Medicine recognize that people with allergies often present with defi ciencies in other body systems, and that these defi ciencies must be addressed if we’re going to resolve your symptoms for good. We’ll ask questions about your sleep, your digestion, your mood, your urinary habits and menstrual cycle. While the particularities of your bowel habits may seem unre-


lated to your hay fever, your answers to these sorts of questions clue us in to the general state of your underlying health. One common Chinese Medicine pattern found in those presenting with allergic symptoms is a defi ciency of both Spleen Qi (“chee”) and Wei Qi (“way chee”). Your Spleen Qi governs a wide variety of physical, emotional, and spiritual activities taking place all the time in your body, but to keep it simple for the purposes of this article you can imagine Spleen Qi as the ability of your body to properly digest food and assimilate nutrients. Certain signs and symptoms elicited during our interview may fi rst suggest and then confi rm a Spleen Qi defi ciency. When we speak of Wei Qi or “Defensive Qi,” we’re identifying a particular aspect of our immune system identifi ed by Chinese Medicine that needs to be robust and intact if we’re to have strong resistance to external pathogens—including airborne allergens. A good healthy Wei Qi implies a good healthy boundary between self and the outside environment, a boundary that prevents us from over-reacting to potential allergens. Once we’ve identifi ed a patient’s particular pattern, we then


employ acupuncture and herbal medicine formulations to match. We may also make relevant dietary and lifestyle recommendations that will augment the treatments you receive in the offi ce and expe- dite your improvement. And now, fi nally, we’ve come back around to the signifi cance of July:


While an acupuncture treatment or herbal formula to man-


age your symptoms may have an immediate or quick-acting effect, addressing and correcting the underlying root imbalance just plain takes longer. For this reason, we recommend starting treatment 6-12 weeks IN ADVANCE of your primary allergic season. So for those of you who suffer from late summer seasonal allergies, now is the time to seek help--even if you’re currently symptom free. Begin building your system up now and fi nally greets your allergic season with a calm, clear head, symptom-less head! Alexa Gilmore is a board-certifi ed acupuncturist and Chinese


herbalist practicing Chinese Medicine at ATX Acupuncture in Port- land, Maine. She takes a no-nonsense approach to the healing arts and expects positive outcomes. In addition to providing high quality treatments, she works in partnership with her patients, empowering them to make lasting changes in their health profi le by implement- ing simple, effective principles of Chinese Medicine into their daily lives. Learn more about Alexa and ATX Acupuncture at www.atxacu. com. See ad on page 25.


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