Posts Tagged ‘eastern medicine’
Acupuncture for Allergies
Spring has sprung a heap of symptoms upon you: sneezing, runny noses, itchy eyes and skin, and headaches abound: the changing colors, warming weather and pretty sounds will not fool the poor allergy sufferer. Spending money on antihistamines brings temporary relief, but the symptoms are always waiting around the next corner. Allergies are a cruel trick: a hypersensitive immune system’s good intentions (to keep your body clear of harmful substances) backfire, taking emergency action to flush out the allergens. This inflammatory response is what leaves you sniffling. Allergies are also fickle: what affects one person does not affect the other, and some people’s bodies are more susceptible to the high allergy season. What treatments you choose and how you allocate your money are the main ways you can impact your allergy suffering.
For allergy season defense in Brooklyn, look to our practice at Community Chiropractic and Acupuncture. We do not interfere with your standard treatments: if you are finding success with antihistamines, more power to you. We offer parallel services that rely on natural methods to compliment these treatments. With acupuncture, there is often a sharp response to treatment: many patients experience relief immediately, and often times people can reduce their dependence on allergy medications, whose long-lasting effects are yet to be determined.
Acupuncture addresses allergies by needling along meridians that, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, can help ease the severity allergy symptoms. These meridians correspond with the functioning of the spleen, kidney and large intestine. TCM also diagnoses a deficiency in lung functioning when chronic allergies are present. We combine needling with nutritional advice: limiting your intake of dairy and sugar is particularly important. We use chiropractic adjustment to ensure that all systems of the body are working harmoniously.
I have years of expertise and success providing allergy relief through acupuncture. If your symptoms evade standard medications and allergy shots, do not despair! Call our office in Park Slope at (718) 398-3100 to schedule an appointment and find out how we can temper your allergy symptoms, allowing you to enjoy the sweet smells of spring.
Dr. Karen Thomas, D.C. L.Ac.
Fight back against tension headaches
For sufferers of chronic tension headaches, who have searched far and wide for relief, acupuncture offers an alternative, natural and safe treatment that is showing good results. Tension-type headaches generally involve bilateral pain (on both sides of the head), which can be moderate to severe, and often feels like a vice tightening around the head. Most people will experience a passing headache every once and a while, but for those who feel them more reguarly, it is worth considering acupuncture as a non-pharmacological alternative. At Community Chiropractic & Acupuncture in Park Slope, we synergize the powers of Western and Eastern medicine to provide a robust treatment plan for people experiencing chronic tension headaches.
Within the framework of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the location of symptoms is very important. By listening to your descriptions of the pain, its triggers and factors both external and internal, we can pinpoint the root of the headache according to TCM. By doing this, we go beyond Western Medicine’s more rigid classification system and delve into the specifics of your headaching. We seek to treat the root- what is causing the pain, and the branch- the pain itself. There are acupuncture points for headaches located along meridians all over the body and, through needling or acupressure, we facilitate the flow of energy through these pathways and stimulate release of the body’s natural pain-killers. The calming influence of acupuncture helps people deal with stress, another leading cause of headaches.
Structurally, tension headaches are often caused by slight misalignments in the cervical region of the spine, meaning that chiropractic adjustment can also help relieve your pain. Getting the best treatment means getting diagnosed by a professional practitioner of TCM; I can help you effect improvements in the severity and frequency of your pain. If you are ready for a change from chonic head pain, call our office in Brooklyn at (718) 398-3100. We want you to listen to what your body and your pain is telling you.
Dr. Karen A. Thomas, D.C., L.Ac.