Choose homeopathy for allergy relief

If the snow and cold ever go away in Asheville, its citizens will celebrate -- until, they realize that allergy spring season is just around the corner!  But allergies don’t have to control your life.  Here is a quick lesson on allergies and their treatment from a homeopathic standpoint.  I also present research from the medical literature that supports my experience.

Asheville is a bad place for people with allergies.  The immense variety of plant life that lives in this mountainous southern region wreaks havoc on people whose immune systems can’t tell friend from foe.  Even people who have never suffered from allergies develop them upon moving here.

Understanding allergies

What are allergies?  Merriam-Webster defines an allergy as an “exaggerated or pathological immunological reaction (as by sneezing, difficult breathing, itching, or skin rashes) to substances, situations, or physical states that are without comparable effect on the average individual.”  Basically, your body treats a harmless substance (like grass pollen) as if it is a danger (like a virus).  It creates the same reaction as it would when you have an infection.

When you have an infection, the immune system can eliminate it and you feel better.  When you are repeatedly exposed to an allergen, the symptoms persist.  So you have two treatment options: eliminate the exposure (which is virtually impossible), or train the immune system not to react inappropriately.

Conventional medicines like antihistamines and inhaled steroids work by shutting the immune system down generally.  They minimize the inappropriate function of the immune system, but they also inhibit the appropriate function of the immune system.  They also tend to produce side effects which are generally nothing more than a nuisance, but can be dangerous in extreme cases.

Homeopathy and allergies

Homeopathy deals with allergies differently.  Homeopathy is a system of medicine in which each individual patient’s condition is explored in detail, and a single remedy is chosen that is known to handle that exact condition.  When properly selected, this single remedy will re-balance the immune system so that it works appropriately (like when you have an infection) but not inappropriately (like when you are exposed to harmless pollen).

Everyone wants to know, “Is there a homeopathic remedy for allergies?”  This is conventional medical thinking.  There is not “a remedy” for allergies, but there is a remedy for each person with allergies.

For example, a person whose allergy symptoms include thick yellow nasal discharge that is much better when they are outdoors in cool weather might need the remedy Pulsatilla.   This person will tend to be gentle and emotional, warm-blooded, and thirstless.  Her or his symptoms are likely to change frequently.

On the other hand, a person with a dry stuffy nose who feels better in hot humid weather will more likely respond to the remedy Nux vomica.  This person will more likely be assertive and irritable, with a sensitive stomach and constipated.

There are a hundred other examples.  I’ve personally cured people’s allergies with dozens of different remedies: Natrum muriaticum, Sabadilla, Kali bichromicum, Allium cepa, Sepia, Sulphur, Silica, Medorrhinum, etc.

Homeopathy has been practiced for two hundred years, and we still use the same remedies in the same way, based on the same indications.  This is a system that has avoided constant overhaul for one simple reason: it works!

Medical research and homeopathy

There are a host of research studies that support the practice of homeopathy.  Here are some that pertain to allergies.  There is great debate among conventional researchers over the study design of homeopathic studies.  Homeopathy does not lend itself well to placebo controls and double-blinding.  I encourage you to read the studies for yourself.  To me they are convincing.  Perhaps that’s because I see their results duplicated in my practice day in and day out.

Colin (2006) reports on 105 cases of ear, nose and throat allergies treated homeopathically.  Only two failed to respond and none deteriorated.  Respiratory allergies were not as well-treated in this sampling, though many of the respiratory allergy sufferers did not return to the clinic for follow-up, so they had to be assumed to be treatment failures.  Read the abstract at the NIH PubMed site: Homeopathy and respiratory allergies: a series of 147 cases.

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Launso et al (2006) surveyed 88 patients who had consulted either a general practice medical doctor or a classical homeopath for allergies.  Fifty-seven per cent of those under homeopathic care reported improvement in their health, while only 24% under conventional care reported improvement.  Read: An exploratory retrospective study of people suffering from hypersensitivity illnesses who attend medical or classical homeopathic treatment.

Goossens et al (2009) studied the effect of homeopathic treatment on allergic rhinitis (runny and stuffy nose).  The reduction in symptoms was dramatic and significant across the population studied.  Read: Evaluation of the quality of life after individualized homeopathic treatment for seasonal allergic rhinitis. A prospective, open, non-comparative study.

What is it like to work with a homeopath?

Your experience with a homeopath will be very different from your visit with a primary care physician or allergist.  First, the conventional doctor will spend little time with you.  There is no need to learn much about your condition when the treatment options are so limited.  You are almost certainly going to get a common antihistamine – a drug which blocks part of the immune reaction to an allergen.

An allergist will probably test you to see what it is you are allergic to.  Then you will get an antihistamine and/or allergy shots specific to the type of allergen detected by the test.  This at least individualizes care to some extent, but only to the extent that you identify your key allergen.  It does not take into account the entirety of your health.

A homeopathic visit involves a thorough examination of your health and health history.  Each symptom is examined in detail.  I want to know what makes your runny nose better or worse.  What exactly does it feel like?  When did it begin in the first place and why?  What other symptoms or changes in your body come along with allergy season? 

Then I want to understand you as a person.  What are your sensitivities?  Are you hot or cold?  Do you sleep well?  What aggravates or annoys you?  What soothes you?  What causes you stress or ruins your day?

Homeopathic treatment also involves ongoing consultations to make sure the remedy prescribed actually works and that you continue to respond.  The end goal of homeopathic treatment is to be disease-free and have little-to-no dependence on medication – including homeopathic medicine.  The treatment should fix the problem, not just cover it up. 

You will tend to need more frequent care and repeated doses of the remedy early in the course of treatment.  As the season goes by -- and as future seasons come and go – you will need the remedy less and less.  This is real health care.

Don’t get caught in the (sick) crowd

People will line up to see their family practitioners and allergists this spring as they always do.  They will continue to suffer, and to remain dependent on their allergy medications.   Try individualized homeopathic medicine this year and see what it feels like to conquer your allergies – to remain symptom-free this season, and for seasons to come.