When your traditional allergy medications seem to cause too many side effects, you may want to try some natural allergy remedies that can aid even the most severe symptoms.
Natural Allergy Remedies
More people today than ever before are turning to alternative remedies to treat allergies and other health problems—many of which are having success.
In fact, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that as many as one in three adults in the United States relies on natural treatment options to address whatever ails them.
However, not all natural allergy remedies are created equally, and not all are considered safe. Therefore, it's important to talk to your doctor before trying any new methods to treat your allergy symptoms. Once you get the okay, though, here are a few alternative allergy remedies worth considering.
Yoga
Yoga can add an important piece of relaxation into your day and in the process, may help to relieve some of your allergy symptoms. Relief comes because the various breathing exercises common in many types of yoga can help to reduce some of the nasal and respiratory distress of allergies. In addition, many of the inverted yoga poses can provide relief for sinus congestion by draining the nasal passages. Even if you don't find a big difference, the relaxation yoga provides may still help you feel better and more rested.
Herbal Remedies
Some allergy sufferers rely on herbal remedies to replace their more traditional treatments to control allergy symptoms. Such herbal allergy treatments have also been used with success by researchers to treat food allergies. However, more research is needed in this area. In the meantime, just keep in mind that taking herbal supplements does carry some risks. This is because they aren't regulated as rigorously as medications. Furthermore, it's always possible that instead of relieving allergies, herbal alternative allergy treatments can cause an allergic reaction, so it's important to be on the lookout for any unusual symptoms.
Acupuncture
There's growing interest in using acupuncture to treat a variety of physical ailments and conditions, including allergies and asthma. This technique consists of sticking pins into pressure points throughout the body to help energy flow better and reduce any blockages that could be causing physical symptoms.
Neti Pot
When your nasal passages are blocked by allergies, you may want to try a neti pot to rinse out the nasal cavity. A neti pot is a special container shaped like a miniature teapot. You can fill it with either a store-bought solution or whip up your own homemade mixture of salt and water, then pour this your nostrils to clean out any mucus. It can also remove any allergy triggers such as pollen, dust and animal hair. Many people find this can make a big difference in how they feel, and it can also help minimize the risk of your nasal cavities becoming infected.
Warnings about Natural Allergy Remedies
When experimenting with natural allergy remedies, always check with your doctor or pharmacist to be sure they won't interfere with medications that you're taking for other chronic health conditions.
Sources:
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
www.aaaai.org/patients/advocate/2006/summer/herbal.asp
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=19&cont=254
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(07)00862-7/abstract
The Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/neti-pot-solution/AN01879
