Hay fever is a hypersensitive reaction of our immune system to airborne substances; most commonly the irritants are pollen so suffering occurs at specific times of the year. Other people have allergies year round triggered by a wider range of allergens causes, these include dust mites, animal fur, fungi, chemicals insect stings and bites.
With hay fever acupuncture seeks to strengthen the Wei Chi or 'protective energy'of the body. This is your defensive energy that blocks external invasions of pathogens and is specifically associated with the lung organ. For more general allergies acupuncture uses its unique diagnostic approach to locate and treat the relevant organ imbalance that causes them in the first instance. Improvement can often be felt immediately, or over a short course of treatment. Some patients return for a short course of treatment each year before what would have been their hay fever season. For many, once improvement in the symptoms is felt, on-going treatment can be maintained by carrying out a specific form of Chinese exercise called Chi Gung. This involves gentle movement and breathing sequences that carry on the improvements that acupuncture has begun.
