As most of the country is entering one of the prime seasons for allergies, I have many helpful tips for you. As we know, allergies are a disorder of the immune system. When your immune system overreacts to a typically non-harmful substance (cat dander, pollen, dust, etc.), it initiates a response to neutralize and flush out the allergen. This is how your watery eyes, itchy nose, and scratchy throat come about.
Chiropractic care aims to ease the overreaction of your immune system by removing interference it may be experiencing from a condition called subluxation. Subluxation is a misalignment of a joint, and when this happens in the spine, the misaligned vertebrae will pinch a spinal nerve, causing symptoms throughout the body. In the case of allergies, the main culprits are the vertebrae in the neck. The nerves that exit your spine at these levels travel to places in your body that control your immune system. If these very important nerves are pinched from misaligned vertebrae, your immune system will malfunction. In the case of allergies, your immune system has become hypersensitive to something that is actually harmless. If we take the pressure off the nerve by realigning the vertebrae, the nerves controlling your immune system are allowed to fully function again, and the hyper-sensitivity is relieved. So as we can see, Chiropractic is not a direct treatment for allergies per se, but it has helped allergy sufferers for generations.
Reducing and stabilizing a subluxation is a treatment process requiring multiple chiropractic adjustments. I provide some at-home care solutions to my patients I encourage they utilize to combat allergies from all directions:
Neti Pot: Whether you use the squeeze bottle or the tiny watering can, flushing the excess mucus from your nose will likely provide immediate, although temporary, relief. They can be purchased at any drug store, are easy to use, and can be used multiple times per day depending on the severity of your symptoms.
Proper Vitamins: Clinical-grade multivitamins with added support of vitamin C, Echinacea, Tumeric and Zinc will make sure your body has all the resources it needs to decrease inflammation and defend against any infection that may try to start.
Quality Probiotic: Emphasis on the QUALITY part. Probiotics are like cars and you don’t want a rust bucket when you can get a Bugatti for almost the same price. Look for one that has the most strains, and they must be non-combative.
Proper Rest: Your body needs rest in order to repair. Sleeping on your back with your head and chest elevated will encourage the excess mucus to flow down your system instead of keeping you awake stuffy and sneezing.
I always strive to support my chiropractic propaganda with solid research studies. Research studies surrounding allergy treatments are difficult to qualify and compare, as it’s hard to objectively measure the level of irritation in one’s eyes, or exactly how runny their nose is. So, it is no surprise that many of the articles you will find describing treatment of allergies and asthma with chiropractic care (or any other particular therapy) are anecdotal reports. What you will not find are articles stating chiropractic care worsens allergy symptoms, or causes any of the side-effects allergy medications are known for. I’ve looked really hard for one. My take home message is this: Some people may not have all of the answers they would like to have regarding chiropractic care. Some research institutions have tried to satisfy the scientific community with double-blind control studies, to some avail. None of them have satisfied every scientific mind out there, and I don’t believe it will happen. Instead of pouring out pages of stories I have from my patients and other chiropractic patients, I encourage you to think about what you believe is best for your body, and treat it with the respect it deserves.
Dr. Jessica Allen, owner of Chiropractic Conciege PLLC, myhomechiro.com