It’s that time of year again — sneezing, itching, sniffling, and coughing. Chances are, you’re one of the 24 million Americans who experience seasonal allergies, and you’re familiar with the toll it can take on your body.
Due to both the symptoms of seasonal allergies and the physiological process your body goes through when reacting to an allergen, your health can suffer more than usual during this time of year. And oftentimes, allergy medicines only provide temporary relief. It’s important to keep in mind your body’s overall well-being when dealing with allergies and not just treat the isolated symptoms.
The five therapies and lifestyle tips listed below are particularly beneficial for allergy relief because of their emphasis on immune support and detoxification, which are important factors in both the allergic response and general health improvement.
1. IV Therapy
IV therapy can help you replenish important vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants through intravenous infusion. When your body processes nutrients from the food you eat, they must pass through your gastrointestinal tract and sometimes aren’t fully absorbed.
Intravenous infusion allows nutrients to bypass your gastrointestinal tract so your body can absorb them more fully and so your circulatory system can carry them to the right places. This can help correct nutritional deficiencies and encourage cellular repair.
During allergy season, it’s particularly important to keep your immune system strong in order to minimize symptoms. Allergies begin in the immune system: when you are exposed to a substance you are allergic to, such as pollen, mold, grass, or dust, your immune system produces antibodies to fight that substance. This reaction is what causes the runny nose, itchy eyes, scratchy throat, and all of the other common allergy symptoms you may be familiar with.
A weak immune system can result in allergy symptoms persisting for longer periods of time. If your immune system is strong, it can be more efficient in responding to allergens.
The Vita Express IV is one of the many IV nutrition therapies offered at PALM Health and is a great choice for those looking to boost immunity, putting your body in the best shape possible to handle an allergy or virus season. It takes less than 45 minutes, so it can be squeezed in on the go or on your lunch break on a busy day.
Using a concentrated blend of vitamin C, B vitamins, amino acids, and other complementary vitamins, this IV works to build up immunity — which not only makes allergy season more bearable for you, but can also assist the body’s response to future infections and can improve your overall health and well-being.
2. Acupuncture
Another way to bolster your immunity to help fight off allergies is through acupuncture. Physical symptoms, including those of allergies, can often be made worse by or even result from an imbalance of energy in your body. Your body has a system of vital energy called “qi” that runs in its own circulatory system throughout your body. This vital energy is responsible for keeping you healthy.
Having a reliable, strong flow of qi through your body is the foundation for well-being, and conversely, disruption of this flow — when qi becomes blocked or imbalanced — can contribute to ill-being (read more here).
Acupuncture involves penetrating the topmost layer of skin at precisely-chosen points, which run along the qi circulatory system, with very thin needles. The needles are then carefully activated with light pressure, movement, or stimulation. As an alternative, acupressure targets those same precise points under the skin, but with manual pressure or cupping rather than needles. Other non-needle techniques, which are equally effective, include lasers or a specific low level electrical current.
By stimulating the flow of your qi, acupuncture naturally improves your body’s immunity and defense mechanisms, which can help to minimize the onset of allergies. It also helps with alleviating symptoms that are already occurring: According to Dr. Emily Guilfoy, chiropractor and acupuncturist at PALM, “Acupuncture will help to rebalance the body’s energy to help open the nasal passages, sinuses, and respiratory system. This energy rebalance will assist the body in calming the inflammation that typically results in symptoms like itchy eyes and skin.”
3. Infrared Sauna
Detoxification is another key to allergy relief and overall well-being. Your body’s allergic response can be triggered by or worsened by toxins, such as mold or even certain chemicals in your household and beauty products. In addition to exacerbating allergy symptoms, a buildup of toxins can cause brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, and weight gain. It’s important for your overall health to expel these toxins, especially during allergy season.
The infrared sauna at PALM uses infrared heat that penetrates deeper into your body than traditional saunas do, which provides a number of benefits. Not only does it relieve tension and relax muscles, but it also raises your core body temperature, which stimulates your immune system and promotes sweating, which expels toxins.
The combination of an accelerated immune response with the efficient elimination of toxins is extremely beneficial in relieving allergy symptoms and helping to mitigate future flare-ups.
4. Salt Room
In addition to strengthening your immune system preventively, there are other services at PALM that can help with symptom alleviation when you do have an allergy flare-up. The Himalayan salt room, in particular, can offer significant relief.
During a typical salt room session, the room fills up with purified ionized salt particles for you to breathe in. Not only does this promote deep relaxation, but it also works to help you detoxify, reduce inflammation, and decrease mucus in your respiratory system, which is a common symptom of allergies. Furthermore, salt therapy also purifies the skin, soothing conditions like eczema that can be allergy-related.
“I regularly recommend patients to use the salt room multiple times throughout the week while experiencing congestion, as it helps to thin the mucus and alleviate symptoms more quickly,” says Dr. Guilfoy. “And, pairing an acupuncture treatment with a salt room session can amplify benefits of both treatments by opening the nasal passages and allowing the ionized salt particles to be inhaled more deeply.”
5. Supplements
In addition to these services, a great way to mitigate allergy symptoms is by taking nutritional supplements. Supplements can help support your immune system and keep your body’s natural responses functioning efficiently to keep you healthy. Two particularly effective supplements you can find at PALM Health are HistaQuel and C-RLA.
According to Dr. David Trybus, chiropractor and acupuncturist at PALM, “HistaQuel aims to control your body’s histamine release, which plays a large role in your allergic response.”
C-RLA, on the other hand, is a liposomal vitamin C supplement. “Because it is liposomal, C-RLA promotes better absorption of the vitamin C, giving an extra immune boost during allergy season,” says Dr. Trybus.
Allergies are common for most people and can be a major nuisance and strain on your health. All of these services offered at PALM Health are valuable tools that improve your vitality by boosting immunity, detoxifying, and addressing stress, tension, and deficiencies. These methods address your well-being as a whole, while simultaneously offering benefits that can both alleviate those pesky symptoms and also may prevent the onset of allergic reactions.
PALM Health is an innovative, whole-person medical and wellness company that helps people reach and maintain well-being. Our experts in medicine and wellness empower people to transform their health, become more resilient, and feel their personal best in mind and body.
