How Does Chinese Medicine Treat Seasonal Allergies?

Recently in our school clinic, we have had our typical group of allergy sufferers this time of year.  Their symptoms range from nasal congestion, watery eyes, postnasal drip to pressure headaches so bad their considering sinus surgery.  I cringe when I hear all of the decongestants they're taking as there are so many side effects such as appetite loss and even permanent loss of smell.  I'll briefly share what I know regarding the pathogenesis of seasonal allergies and how we treat it in Chinese medicine.

Most seasonal allergy sufferers have what we call weak 'wei qi' and are combating a wind-heat invasion.  You can think of wei qi as your immunity but we see it as the most yang of the qi energy that rises just above the hairs on your body and protects you from the Six Evils (wind, cold, damp, summer heat, dryness, heat).  What differentiates an allergy sufferer from a person suffering a cold or flu is that there are no signs of fever/chill, aversion to cold/wind and no body aches or fatigue; the majority of symptoms reside in the head.  Strong wei qi is produced by a properly functioning Spleen and healthy Lung.  This brings up the next subject: Prevention.

Chinese medicine is a preventative medicine.  They say a novice doctor heals you when you're sick, but an experienced doctor heals you before you become ill.  The Lung and Spleen organs are two of our most important organs to daily living.  Think about it- you have to breathe in air and you have to take in food; without these two, you will produce no postnatal qi.  The quality of food and the quality of air that we take in determines the functioning of our entire body.  The saying You are what you eat couldn't be more correct.  Often the people with seasonal allergies who I see that have the phlegm and nasal congestion also have a poor diet, this being because the Spleen has been damaged by poor diet and is no longer able to 'transform and transport' the nutrients necessary up to the Lung; instead, it sends the phlegm up to the Lung.  This is why we say the Lung is the 'container of phlegm'.    The second type of allergy sufferer I see is the person with weak wei qi due to a Lung deficiency either from smoking or childhood illnesses that damaged their lungs.  These patients normally have dry skin, dry cough and dry nasal cavities with postnasal drip.  This illustrates just one reason it's imperative to provide your body with the best and most nutritional food you can- because that nutrition is transformed into qi and sent to the Lung to act as a shield around your body.

I find it interesting how seasonal allergy symptoms are understood in their pathodynamic and will share a couple of examples:
Dry nose, eyes and skin- the Lung effuses wei qi throughout the entire body which is meant to warm and moisten the body.  The Lung is considered a canopy in Chinese medicine and it's said the nature of the Lung is warm and moist.  When you smoke, the Lung becomes dry or what we call 'yin deficient'.  Often, smokers will have a warm core but cold extremities- this is due to the wei qi not being strong enough to cover and warm the entire body
Nasal congestion, runny nose, watery eyes- most sources will explain this as a stagnation and obstruction of Lung qi- in other words, because the qi of the Lung is not strong enough to effuse the entire body with moisture, it is stuck around its orifice- the nose (we say the Lung opens to the nose).  The watery eyes can the wei qi attempting to expel the wind-heat invasion.

A good place to start in treating allergies is prevention.  When you're taking decongestants and antihistamines, you're treating the branch- the root resides often in a Lung and Spleen deficiency.  If your diet is consisting of refined or overly processed foods, no vegetables and high in sugar, dense breads and hard cheeses, you're going to continue to suffer with allergies.  Making the change to foods that are easy to digest, wholesome and nutritious is going to support your wei qi and heal your allergy symptoms.  Treating allergies starts before one has allergic symptoms- this is often in September that practitioners will have their patient take Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan  to promote wei qi, drain damp and support digestion.  When approached in this manner, the symptoms when allergy season comes around are reduced and continue to reduce year by year.  When the person is in the midst of allergies, Bi Yan Pian is a formula that can help reduce symptoms.

See your local acupuncturist for help with your allergies and developing a plan to heal yourself and prevent them in the future.