Does the sight and smell of wattle, flowers or freshly cut grass currently give you a sense of dread and fear? Spring does that to many, myself included. This windy start to spring has bought a lot of hayfever cases into the clinic already.

‘Hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, affects an estimated 3 million Australians and was more common in women and people aged 25 to 44, the National Health Survey reported in 2008.

But it’s the 1.8 million of those with asthma that the experts worry about. Poorly managed hay fever can trigger a potentially life-threatening asthma attack, even in those with otherwise well-controlled asthma, according to Asthma Australia.

Come in soon to address your hay fever and asthma before it gets out of control. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine can change the quality of your life in spring and summer, but better to get treatment before it gets bad.

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Tips to reduce hay fever symptoms:

  • Check the pollen count forecast and try to stay indoors if it’s a high count.
  • Stay indoors as much as possible in spring, on windy days or after thunderstorms.
  • In your garden, choose plants that are pollinated by birds or insects, rather than plants that release their seeds into the air.
  • Splash your eyes often with cold water to flush out any pollen.
  • Reduce your exposure to dust and dust mites, animals and animal hair or fur (dander).
  • Get acupuncture! Its a natural drug free alternative to hay fever.

 (Source:  http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/spring-hay-fever-tipped-to-be-severe-as-sneeze-season-arrives-20160830-gr4gtb.html )

(Source: Better Health Channel)

Here is a snippet of a Systematic Review that I did as part of my Masters Degree. 

Hay fever or Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a prevalent nasal hypersensitive reaction to common allergens. Almost one sixth of the Australian population has been diagnosed with AR, it can decrease quality of life and has significant direct and indirect healthcare costs. Acupuncture could be a more cost effective alternative and may improve a patient’s quality of life.

Six Randomised Controlled Trials were analysed, with over 1300 people in total from these studies. Acupuncture 665 (treatment), sham acupuncture 195 (control), no-acupuncture 444 (control). Acupuncture treatment of allergic rhinitis had a strong effect on rhinitis quality of life. There were no serious adverse events reported in the studies that were as a result of acupuncture treatment, which pertains to the safety of acupuncture treatment.

Conclusion: Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that acupuncture can be an effective solution for allergic rhinitis.

Written by Dr Kim Clipstone (Acupuncture)