Allergies and Integrative Chinese Medicine

Allergy sufferers know the pain of itchy, watery eyes, stuffy noses and fatigue that come along with the change of seasons. More and more people are becoming allergic to foods, environmental factors and even their own houses and pets. The standard medical approach usually involves injections or drugs that can have some serious and surprising side effects such as low libido, decreased growth rate in kids, increased chance of developing cataracts, osteoporosis and diabetes. You could also experience anxiety, impaired thinking or depression. At the SOPHIA Natural Health Center, we believe that by treating the source of the problem, you can restore the body and make it impenetrable to allergens. Our track record of thousands of patients shows us this can be done through our integrative approach.

One of our techniques, acupuncture has a direct effect on the central nervous system. It allows the body to release extremely powerful pain relievers and opiods reawakening a dormant body. This is not giving energy to areas. This is allowing the body to self regulate what it could not previously do. When the body is injured or cannot maintain itself properly, it shuts down the nervous transmission and blood flow to any area. This protects the nervous system as to not overload it. It stores the irritant away so that it can be dealt with at a later time when it has the resources to do so. The problem becomes that it silently and drastically impinges upon the system, creating a frail environment internally. This is why people seem to suddenly be in a state of disease when in reality it was happening for many years.

Allergies are stressors to the body and any stressor on the system, whether emotional, physical or environmental irritates all the organs and systems of the body. This creates internal chaos and a lack of blood flow. This is especially true in cases of chronic allergies, which are minimized into mild symptoms or medicated away with antihistamines. This is not a natural process. Typically, the younger we are, the more we have a fairly adept system that has not had the life stresses accumulating on the systems. If only the allergy symptoms are treated, as we age, it affects more and more systems of the body, leaving us generally unhealthy with a variety of conditions. However, treating the body will treat the root.

Acupuncture in itself is an amazingly powerful tool when used correctly and combined with dietary, lifestyle and herbal attributes. In essence, this is Asian or Oriental medicine at its heart. It is never one aspect that creates health or disease. Instead, it is the symphonic nature of all aspects of life that either will nurture or destroy us. The body is a living organism that requires constant reeducation until the old patterns are unlearned. Once the body relearns the patterns of health, the symptoms disappear whether it is allergies or any other health condition.

Dr. Kenneth Hoffman, DACM

Medical Director SOPHIA Natural Health Center, Brookfield, CT

Radio Host “The Natural Medicine Connection” 800AM WLAD