By Carl Weber
If ragweed, goldenrod, dogs, cats, strawberries, chocolate etc. were truly responsible for creating allergies, every person alive would be suffering from allergies. And it’s not like we can kill off the causes of most allergies because they’re everywhere. So what can we do?
Let’s start by asking what causes allergies? Your immune system is responsible for recognizing and destroying any substance that is foreign to you. The immune system is controlled and coordinated by your nervous system. If there is interference in your nervous system, then your nervous system can’t operate at 100 per cent of its full potential and the result is an allergy, the overreaction of your immune system to a given substance. This result is runny eyes, nasal passage irritation, sinus fullness, etc. To counteract this, antihistamines are often prescribed to dry the affected mucous membranes.
However, antihistamines such as Claritin, Zyrtec, Actifed, Allegra, and Sudafed come with an array of side effects including headaches, excessive thirst, blurred vision, dry mouth and nose, drowsiness, dizziness, loss of appetite, stomach upset, irritability, fatigue, cold symptoms, fainting and vision changes. The side effects sound as bad as or worse than the allergy symptoms they purport to alleviate.
Drug-free help is available. Naturopathic and homeopathic care, nutritional changes or supplementation as well as acupuncture and chiropractic care are all good places to start. Chiropractic adjustments relieve the stress on the nervous system, thereby allowing the whole body to function more effectively — something all allergy sufferers need.
“A healthy body is capable of neutralizing these toxic substances and a body which has malfunctioning defence mechanisms cannot. The emphasis on allergies must be on building a healthy body, not on trying to use evasive tactics by eliminating all the allergens,” according to K.W. Donsback of the International Institute of Natural Health Sciences.
Why even try to eliminate allergy producing substances when the chemicals to do so affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the environment we share? And why just mask the symptoms with drugs? Why not get to the cause?
Get adjusted and turn on your immune system — get some help.
See you soon.
Aloha and peace
Dr. Carl Weber, B.P.E. (Hon), DC, is a chiropractor at Lake Cowichan Chiropractic, 85 Darnell Rd. Contact them at 250-749-3393 or check the out on the internet at www.lakecowichanchiropractic.com.