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Acupuncture for allergies
Reducing oversensitivty
Acupuncture for allergies may be able to help with your hayfever, rhinitis, sinusitis, allergic skin conditions or digestive problems. Each of these allergies can make life a real struggle, and happily they often respond well to acupuncture.
Acupuncture addresses our health holistically, aiming to strengthen us and bring us back into better balance. Reducing oversensitivities to external allergens should leave us free to sit outside on a summers' day, or eat that tempting sticky bun, without undue suffering as a result!
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Case study |
"I have always wanted to go for acupuncture and was really pleased when a friend recommended Jessica. I went to her to work on a variety of things, not least of which was my annual summer allergies. This year, my allergies have been worse than ever. I work on music festivals which means I spend a lot of time in grassy fields over the summer. With chronic allergies, I was really struggling to do my job. After seeing Jessica three times, I saw a massive improvement. After a few further sessions, I can honestly say that I haven't had an allergy attack for weeks. In addition to alleviating my allergy problems, I also feel that acupuncture has brought me more peace and well being than I have felt in ages. Jessica is very professional but at the same time she makes you feel very comfortable and relaxed with the process. I would recommend an acupuncture session with Jessica to anyone!" An event manager in her 30s
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Research |
A 2003 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO)(1) found that allergic rhinitis is one of the conditions "for which acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be an effective treatment".
Meanwhile a review(2) by the British Medical Journal described acupuncture as "very safe" when practiced by an appropriately-qualified practitioner.
The modern evidence base for acupuncture is incomplete, and this is true for a great many areas of conventional medicine too. The Clinical Evidence website of the British Medical Journal tells us that of the 2,500 conventional medical treatments their databases cover, 46% are of unknown effectiveness (as at October 2009)(3).
Jessica continues to witness the benefits of acupuncture for many people in her work, utilising the knowledge and practice of Chinese medicine built up over thousands of years. She's happy that more and more modern scientific research is being done into acupuncture, helping to bring it to a wider audience.
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Contact Jessica
Each of us responds differently to
acupuncture. Do get in touch to discuss whether
acupuncture is likely to be right for you, or to make an appointment.
Other conditions
Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health problems, click below to find out more:
Detailed references
(1) http://www.acupuncture-schools.us/national-institute-health-nih-acupuncture.cfm, referring to World Health Organisation (2002). Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trial, see http://apps.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp?sesslan=1&codlan=1&codcol=93&codcch=196
(2) Rampes (2001). The safety of acupuncture. British Medical Journal 2001;323(7311):467 (1 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7311.467, see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/323/7311/467
(3) From the 'About Us' area of the Clinical Evidence BMJ website, page titled 'How much do we know', http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/about/knowledge.jsp. Extract at Oct 2009: "So what can Clinical Evidence tell us about the state of our current knowledge? What proportion of commonly used treatments are supported by good evidence, what proportion should not be used or used only with caution, and how big are the gaps in our knowledge? Of around 2500 treatments covered 13% are rated as beneficial, 23% likely to be beneficial, 8% as trade off between benefits and harms, 6% unlikely to be beneficial, 4% likely to be ineffective or harmful, and 46%, the largest proportion, as unknown effectiveness"
© Jessica Kennedy 2005-09, all rights reserved