So you are struggling with allergies. Your eyes are sore and itchy, your throat hurts, your nose is stuffy, and you can't stop sneezing. It may have even evolved into bronchitis and you are dealing with a deep cough that just won't go away. Sound familiar? With record high pollen counts this Cedar season, thousands of Central Texans are in the same boat.

What is an allergy anyway? An allergy occurs when your immune system overacts to normally innocuous substances. Below are some steps you can take to relieve your symptoms and prevent them from coming back:

Treating and preventing allergies:

Generally: Keep yourself clean from the allergen. If you spent time outside and your clothes are dusty with it, change out of your outer layer. Wash your hands and face when you come in and wash your hair before crawling into bed. Take care of your body by getting enough sleep and drinking plenty of fluids.

Foods to aid in symptomatic relief: Foods containing plenty of vitamin C and quercetin are grapes, grapefruit, kale, spinach, apples, cranberries, kiwis, and oranges. These have antihistamine properties.

Reduce your intake of foods that cause mucous production and inflammation. The main ones to avoid are dairy products, refined sugars, and white flour.

For prevention sweet potatoes, kale, spinach. carrots, winter squash, collard greens are all rich in Beta Kerotine. When your body converts beta kerotine into vitamin A it strengthens the immune system, keeps your lungs functioning at optimum levels and is a powerful antioxidant.

Single Herbs and Herbal Formulas:Having symptoms: Ginger and licorice roots for their anti-inflammatory properties.

Chinese Herbal formulas: When it comes to sickness and health no one size fits all. Therefore your Chinese Medicine practitioner can create a custom formula tailored to your specific health needs. To do this they will need to find out the details of your allergy symptoms and to look at your tongue and to feel your pulse.

As a preventative measure the formula Jade windscreen which is a combination of Astragulus, Atractylodes, and Ledboirella boosts your immune system. Generally speaking patients should begin taking this a month before the allergen is released into the air. Consult with your Chinese Medicine practitioner before beginning this formula.

Meridian Therapies: Acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping therapy, and guasha are all therapies that stimulate the meridians on the body. Meridians are energetic pathways throughout the body that correlate with the body's nervous and circulatory system. Through the use of these therapies your acupuncturist can assist the body in breaking up congestion, relieve coughs and sore throats, and strengthen the immune system.

For prevention, your acupuncturist can begin using acupuncture and moxabustion a couple of weeks before the release of Cedar (or whatever pollen you have an allergy to). The treatment will be geared towards strengthening your immunity and regulating your nervous system so that your body doesn't overreact to the allergen in the first place.

Looking for natural care for allergies, then visit www.truenatureclinic.com for a free ebook about Austin Acupncture and how it can help you.

Posted under Allergies

Allergy is one of the diseases which modern medicine cannot cure. The only thing allergologists can do is to diagnose the patient, to determine the allergens, then to prescribe medication for making the symptoms disappear. Curing is not possible in such cases.

Allergy reliefs can be as specific as the human beings. Doctors say that there are no diseases but only patients, so you have to try and see what works best for your case. Then stick to the medication you saw the most benefits in.

Diagnosing allergic patients has been a challenge for doctors for many years now. This happened because allergy is tricky, disguising itself like a common cold. Many sufferers thought they were catching too many colds a year, without suspecting they might be suffering from something else.

Almost everything in nature or made by humans can be an allergen. Dust is well known to give skin reactions in many people, as well as molds and mildew. Foods can also initiate an allergic response from the human body. Pollens threaten many allergic persons lives each spring and fall. There is a potential allergen in everything.

A popular belief indicates nettles as the best natural remedy against allergy and many sufferers tend to give it a try. However, scientific tests have not been developed on this issue. Until then, allergic people should stick to their antihistamines medication as prescribed by their doctor.

Allergic reactions can manifest themselves in multiple ways: airborne allergens will rather give respiratory tract reactions like swelling, sneezing and cold-like symptoms. Contact allergies can give skin manifestations like urticaria, redness, itching or swelling of the limbs. All types of allergy can lead to death by chocking.

Epinephrine is the fastest remedy against allergic shocks. There are devices called epinephrine pens, which extremely allergic people should carry with them permanently. In case of getting in contact with the allergen, they need to be given the epinephrine shot within the first 3-4 minutes, so paramedics may simply not be fast enough to save the patient's life.

Posted under Allergies