Posts Tagged ‘Allergy Sufferers’

Conventional allergy treatment consists of two main approaches: symptom suppression and desensitization. Symptom suppression uses various medications to reduce the release of and/or the effects of circulating immune chemicals like histamine. Reduction of the amounts or effects of these chemicals reduces the severity of the body’s allergic reaction and things like congestion, irritated eyes, and skin reactions diminish. In severe allergies, steroids like cortisone may be used to drastically suppress the body’s inflammatory immune response.

The other main conventional approach to treating allergies is gradual desensitization, which is done using allergy shots. Allergy shots deliver small amounts of the person’s allergens into the body on a regular basis. The concept here is that over time the body will grow accustomed to the allergen and stop reacting as strongly to it. Basically, the idea is that the body will get “tired” of producing an immune response to the allergen if it encounters it often enough. Allergy shots are effective at eliminating allergies in many cases, but it is a slow process. There is a new way of desensitizing the body to allergens that is much faster and does not require injections, as we’ll discuss shortly.

You’ll need a bit of background information before I begin discussing this new form of allergy treatment. This method of treatment is based on the concept of the energy field of the human body and it utilizes a system known as muscle testing or “applied kinesiology” to evaluate changes in energy flow. Acupuncture is a system of healing that has been around thousands of years. It is based on the flow and interaction of subtle forms of energy in the body. While this is still a new concept in Western medicine, energy healing is widely accepted in many parts of the world. Medical doctors often dismiss outright the concept of an energy field around the body, yet the existence of this field is easily demonstrated, as anyone who is “muscle-tested” will experience.

You may have heard of homeopathy. As with acupuncture, it is also based on the concept of energy fields, in the body, as well as in substances and organisms that may interact with the body. In essence, homeopathic remedies are energy “signatures” of substances not the actual substances themselves. Just as you can store electronic information on a computer disc, energy signatures can be imprinted on purified water and other substances. The stored energy signatures in the homeopathics can then be used to treat the body.

As mentioned above, the existence of the human energy field is easily demonstrated. One of the simplest and yet most effective means of assessing the flow of energy around and within the body is something called muscle testing. Every muscle in your body is controlled by nerves, which transmit electrical signals. If the body’s energy field is disrupted, the electrical signals of the nerves are interfered with, and so the muscles cannot function at full capacity. It’s sort of like a light on a dimmer switch. When the power to the light is flowing at full capacity, the light is bright. When the flow of electricity is interfered with (by means of the components of the dimmer switch), the light dims. If the nerve signals to your muscles are “dimmed”, the muscle appears weak. In muscle testing, we assess energy pathways by touching points on the body or by contacting the body with a substance to check the body’s reactivity to it. Although any muscle in the body can be used for testing, one of the most popular tests uses the deltoid muscles. The basic procdeure involves having the person being tested hold his or her arm straight out to the side at shoulder level and the person doing the testing pushes down on the arm at the wrist or forearm. When an energy reaction occurs, the person being tested will be unable to resist the downward push from the tester where they had been able to easily resist before.

There are many critics of muscle testing who claim that it is a hoax. I used to think that myself. Certainly there are ways to “cheat” the test to make it show what you want it to show. All of these tricks are easily detectable if you pay attention to what’s happening. Among the more common tricks to produce a weak response when the tester wants it are: the tester pushes harder or faster, the tester lifts up on the arm (triggering muscle relaxation) prior to pushing down, or the tester changes the angle, or shifts the leverage of the push. I myself have witnessed a lot of muscle testing where the outcome was controlled by the tester. Such experiences led me to conclude that muscle testing was a bunch of garbage. A few years ago, I attended a seminar that changed my mind. I came to understand the proper way to do muscle testing. Following that, I came to recognize what a valuable tool muscle testing actually was for assessing the body.

Allergy and Sensitivity Elimination and Reprogramming Technique (ASERT)is the newest method of dealing with allergy problems in the body. This is a method that uses muscle testing and homeopathic substances to evaluate the body and then uses a form of acupuncture point stimulation to reduce the body’s sensitivities to allergens. This is a relatively new technique that is an updated version of an older, but more widely-used method called NAET (Nambudripad Allergy Ellimination Technique).

NAET, like many remarkable discoveries, was stumbled upon by accident by Devi Nambudripad, a chiropractor and acupuncturist. She had suffered for years with numerous severe allergies and food sensitivities and she was on an extremely restricted diet because of her many food sensitivities. Supposedly, one evening she was preparing dinner for her husband and, without thinking, took a bite of carrot, which she was quite allergic to. Immediately, she started to have an allergic reaction and she decided to ride it out using some acupuncture to help her through it more easily. She placed acupuncture needles to stimulate all of the energy channels in the body and laid down to rest. When she awoke, she felt unusually good and noticed that in her haste, she had not washer her hands and still had some carrot on her skin. On a hunch, she ate a bite of carrot and found she did not react to it as before. She then tried using the same procedure for other foods she was allergic to and discovered that the acupuncture stimulation eliminated those reactions as well. From there the method has grown and there are various modifications and offshoots of it, including ASERT, the technique I use.

With ASERT, I use muscle testing to test for reactions to various allergens and then desensitize the body to any allergens I find using laser acupuncture. The laser is particularly good for this technique because it is completely noninvasive and painless and can go right through most clothing, negating the need for the patient to disrobe. In using this technique the last few years, I have discovered some additional tricks to make it even more effective. For most cases, significant reduction in all types of allergies and sensitivities can be achieved in 1 to 10 visits. This treatment is long lasting (it usually “holds” for at least several months) and is often permanent. A few interfering factors can come into play with the effects of treatment, such as heavy metal toxicity or particularly heavy exposure to the desensitized allergens, but these are rare.

Although they are a bit difficult to believe at first, ASERT and NAET are both highly effective in the majority of cases. They are gaining popularity and practitioners of these techniques can usually be located in most major cities.

Winter in San Antonio and the rest of the South Texas area brings the dreaded mountain cedar allergy season. Mountain cedar allergy, or “cedar fever” as it is sometimes known, is a hard thing to live with in South Texas given the area’s high density of the trees and the breezy conditions common to the winter months that helps stir the pollen into the air.

Due to the incredibly high pollen counts (which may continue for several days to weeks) that can occur with mountain cedar, it is by far one of the worst pollens for allergy sufferers. Mountain cedar pollen counts can occasionally reach such a high level that the pollen is actually considered an air pollutant, with the air actually appearing somewhat hazy?).

The pollen typically overpowers the symptom-control of just about every common allergy treatment known to medicine. Even prescription medications and inhalers may not be a match for the clouds of pollen.

Fortunately, there is a new approach to this problem. Energy medicine techniques, based on the thousand-year-old healing traditions of acupuncture (althought the new methods do not require needles and are totally painless), are now available that can effectively “desensitize” allergy sufferers to many allergens, including mountain cedar pollen. These strange-looking methods take effect quickly – within 24 hours and can eliminate mountain cedar allergies for the remaining months of the cedar fever season, and often for future seasons for years to come.

Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technnique, or NAET for short, is the most well-known and widely-practiced of these methods, and is named after Dr. Devi Nambudripad, an acupuncturist and chiropractor. Devi Nambudripad. This technique was discovered accidentally by Dr. Nambudripad when she learned how to eliminate her own allergies. Reportedly, Dr. She herself was afflicted with many food allergies and because of this was on an extremely limited diet. One evening she was fixing dinner for her husband and was cutting up carrots (which she was allergic to). Apparently, just getting a little bit of carrot juice on her skin was enough to trigger an allergy attack. Dr. Nambudripad immediately stopped what she was doing and decided to perform an acupuncture treatment on herself and lie down to rest. She actually fell asleep with the acupuncture needles still in place, and when she awoke, she noticed that she was feeling much better. She noticed that in her haste she had failed to wash off all of the carrot juice from her hands and there were still bits of carrot on her skin, but she was no longer reacting to it. On a hunch, she tried eating a small amount of carrot and to her excitement, she did not have any adverse reaction to it. From there, the technique was developed and is now used for desensitizing all kinds of allergens – including inhaled pollens such as the case with mountain cedar allergy.

A number of other allergy desensitization methods have been developed based on NAET. I have been using a method called Allergy and Sensitivity Elimination and Reprogramming Technique (or ASERT for short) for the past several years with great success. While not identical to NAET, the principles are similar. Instead of acupuncture needles, ASERT uses “cold” laser to stimulate acupuncture points, and the procedure is completely painless and well-tolerated even by very young children.

Both NAET and ASERT defy a believable description, but they are remarkably fast acting, taking effect in 24 hours or less, and the desensitization effect lasts for several months to several years in the majority of cases. The procedure to desensitize mountain cedar pollen, or any other single allergen, is easily done within just one 20 to 30 minute office visit in most cases. Following the desensitization procedure, sinus congestion, watering eyes, and other allergy symptoms start to subside within a matter of hours.) ease off quickly and the need for antihistamines, decongestants, and other medications is typically eliminated.

So, if cedar fever has you in it’s grasp, or if you suffer from any other allergies, there’s good news – you don’t have to suffer anymore!

Oak allergy sufferers who live in South Texas are well aware of the large quantities of pollen that oaks produce and the symptoms that result. The pollen pods, which resemble little fuzzy worms, release the pollen into the air to be carried by the wind and the pods accumulate on the ground.

During the oak pollen season, the effects of the pollen are everywhere, with cars and windows covered with the orange-brown film the pollen creates. Even pavement where the spent pollen pods accumulate will get stained brown. Those suffering from oak pollen allergies can experience severe reactions. Massive sinus drainage, watery eyes, sneezing, and/or coughing will develop that can defy almost any allergy treatment available, at least until the oak pollen subsides.

Severe oak allergy reactions can motivate sufferers to turn to every remedy they can think of, including drastic measures like sterod injections. Some will decide to handle the situation once and for all by starting allergy shots, even though the needles are less than pleasant, without realizing that it often takes years to finally get results.

Many oak allergy sufferers will seek out natural relief from treatments like nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, homeopathy and/or acupuncture, and all of these forms of treatment will provide some degree of temporary relief for the majority of people. But what if there was a way to do more than just suppress allergy symptoms?

But what if there was another way to deal with allergies that gets rid of the problem long-term as seen with allergy shots, but gets results in days and doesn’t require getting stuck with needles repeatedly? There is in fact a way to accomplish this using “energy medicine” methods.

The most widely-practiced of these natural allergy relief methods is NAET, which stands for Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique. Dr. Devi Nambudripad is a chiropractor and acupuncturist from California who accidentally discovered how stimulating specific acupuncture meridians while being exposed to the allergens one reacts to can reset the body so that it no longer reacts to those allergens.

Since NAET was first developed in the 1980’s, other similar techniques have been developed that are more streamlined, but NAET is still the most popular. All energy-basd allergy elimination techniques are definitely strange and can seem like they are too good to be true, but in eight years of practicing Allergy and Sensitivity Elimination and Reprogramming Technique (ASERT), a newer, more efficient version of allergy elimination based on the underlyng principles of NAET, I have found it to be extremely effective on even the most severe and chronic of allergy sufferers.

Because these techniques are so strange and because I practice in San Antonio, an area where a high percentage of the population is still extremely skeptical of alternative medicine, I do the allergy desensitization on people and let them experience the results before they pay me. I use the honor system with regards to the allergy elimination procedure I use in my office – I do the full allergy elimination procedure and patients pay me after the fact when they are satisfied that the treatment was effective for them. The vast majority send me checks or call me with a credit card number, which I thik is a dramatic testament to the effectiveness of this technique.

The great part about these techniques is that the results occur quickly. In the case of seasonal allergies like those to oak pollen, symptoms may be severe for weeks at a time, so allergy sufferers seek out some form of natural allergy relief that takes effect quickly, rather than a treatment approach like allergy shots that can take years to be effective, and rather than treatments that have potentially serious side-effects such as steroid drugs. Energy-based allergy elimination provides relief within a day or two and does so without the risk of side-effects.

Better yet, the effects of energy-based allergy elimination last for several months to several years because these techniques actually get rid of the allergies, not just suppress allergy symptoms and inflammation. So, oak allergy sufferers can usually go through multiple oak seasons without any problems without ongoing treatment after going through the allergy desensitization.

Although NAET practitioners often claim that the effects of NAET are permanent, which they may be in some cases, it has been my experience that allergies can re-develop, particularly after somone is sick with a cold or flu, or suffers a major trauma during a high pollen season. It appears that the body may develop allergies in a “guilt by association” manner in which an activation of the body’s immune system and inflammatory response from something other than pollen may become associated with the presence of a given allergen, thus triggering a reaction to the allergen. In other words, if you catch the flu during a time when oak pollen is high, it is not unusual to develop oak allergies.

In any case, energy-based allergy desensitization is very much for real, and it offers fast, effective natural allergy relief for oak pollen allergies, as well as any other type of allergy (including airborne allergens, foods, and skin-contact allergies).