Preparing for Allergy Season

What are seasonal allergies?

When you have seasonal allergies, your immune system is over-reacting to something in the environment. Pollen is one of the things it can over-react to. This leads to symptoms like:

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- Stuffy, itchy nose

- Runny nose with clear (rather than yellow/green) mucous

- Itchy eyes with tearing

- Pressure in your forehead/ a headache in the forehead area

- Itchy skin, ears, mouth 

- Stubborn cough, sneezing

A fun way to figure out which pollen counts are high in your area is to look at The Weather Network’s Pollen Report.

Natural Ways to Treat it

Start early: I tell patients to start prepping for allergy season three months before their symptoms usually start. But if your allergy season is fast approaching, don’t worry – it’s not too late!

Neti pots with saline solution: This is a great way to get immediate relief by flushing irritants out of the nose. Studies show this method can improve symptoms by over 30%. Your naturopathic doctor (ND) can also recommend natural remedies to safely add to the solution. This will improve results.

Avoiding certain foods: Diet is a growing area of research for the treatment of seasonal allergies. In my experience, cleaning up the diet can improve symptoms for patients. This includes reducing additives, sugars, dairy and other ingredients. Your naturopathic doctor can help you come up with a diet that can help you manage your symptoms.

Probiotics: There is growing evidence showing how probiotics improve seasonal allergies. Talk to your ND to figure out the best ways to get more probiotics into your diet.

There are also herbal and nutritional supplements your ND can recommend for allergies.

Wouldn’t it be great to look forward to the spring and summer without having to worry about allergies? Having a clear, natural treatment plan can help you make the most of the season.

What Does a Naturopathic Doctor Do?

Are you wondering how exactly somebody like me can help you? The Association of Accredited Naturopathic Medical Colleges put together a survey to find out the top conditions naturopathic doctors treated in 2015. The survey also ranked the methods that naturopathic doctors used to treat patients.

Here were the top 10 conditions treated by NDs:

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- Digestive system disorders

- Women’s health issues

- Hormonal issues

- Infertility and reproduction problems

- Insomnia, fatigue, fibromyalgia

- Problems with the immune system

- Pediatric conditions

- Pain, arthritis

- Cardiovascular disease (high cholesterol, high blood pressure etc.)

The top three methods that NDs used to treat their patients were:

- Improving nutrition

- Herbal/ botanical medicine

- Mind body medicine

I would say that my experience is in line with the findings from this survey. I would also add that I’ve done a lot of work with weight management, mental health, controlling blood sugar and much more. I also often use acupuncture and lifestyle changes to help my patients.

Do you think naturopathic medicine can help you? Don’t hesitate to book an appointment or a free 15- minute phone consultation.