Spring Allergies

A month ago, a new patient came to my office with nasal allergies. After 10 years of constant suffering and numerous failed attempts for relief, she decided to give an alte
ative approach a try. To her surprise, within three office visits, she felt relief.

At age 35, this female Moroccan native patient presented herself with chronic nasal allergies. She stated that her nasal allergies started while she lived in Morocco and have been continuous for the past 10 years. She had taken medication over the years, but without any real relief. The patient complained that she had lost the sense of smell and the sense of taste. Her husband who was from Yemen, did not have any nasal allergies, congestion or runny nose symptoms, but came along with her because of his very deep concern. She stated that the constant nasal congestion was interfering with her quality of life and she feared that her two small children were being affected by her condition.

Typically, allergies don't appear suddenly. Therefore, something must have happened to the patient that started the problem. I asked her if something traumatic happened about 10 years ago, since she didn't have allergies or sinusitis growing up. After thinking for a while, the patient replied that her aunt had died, but she didn't believe that this was the cause of her allergies. It has been my experience that an emotional event can initiate symptoms and disease. In absence of a clear traumatic event, I decided to test her for hormonal imbalance - specifically serotonin. No surprise to me, she tested positive for serotonin.

I proceeded to treat her for serotonin, to ensure that the "feel good hormone" was flowing freely without any energy blockage to her brain. The majority of serotonin comes from the gut, but it needs to flow freely throughout the body in order to prevent depression. Often when there is trauma in a person's life, serotonin is interfered with and thus, unable to keep a person feeling well.

On the second office visit the patient appeared much happier, but still extremely congested and nasal. I then proceeded to do an evaluation for hay fever and environmental allergies. The patient tested positive for pollen, trees, grasses, insects, dust, chemicals and animal dander. Instead of treating her for each individual allergy or suggesting that she get weekly allergy shots indefinitely, as is the common procedure, I decided to treat her for rhinoviruses. While the rhinovirus is often a cause of the common cold, I have found that it might exist as an underlying infection for nasal allergies. I asked her to return in one week for her third office visit.

When the patient returned she was completely symptom free. She was elated, as was her very relieved husband. Basically, in three office visits, the lady from Morocco was able to smell, taste and breathe again. This indicates that there are conditions that patients experience which are caused by an underlying infection and an emotional component. From a standard clinical perspective, those symptoms from Morocco resemble hay fever. One could argue that hay fever from Morocco is similar to hay fever from America. And most likely hay fever allergies are similar worldwide. Eliminating spring allergies from Morocco may have broader implications. And achieving this type of result, is what makes holistic healing exciting.