Allergy Season

If you’re one of the more than 50 million Americans who suffer from allergies, you may be struggling to find allergy relief and to control your symptoms this year.  For many, being cooped up in the house delayed their reaction to outdoor irritants, and for others indoor allergies are more of an issue than ever.

Of course, for some sufferers, symptoms of allergies always seem to be present. That unrelenting runny nose, itchy eyes, constant sneezing and a feeling that sinuses are blocked, and finding allergy relief can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. To top it all off, allergy symptoms can actually cause anxiety these days, since people may wonder whether they have something more ominous.

It’s important to remember that allergies are the result of your immune system overreacting to a substance in the environment. Essentially, when you have an allergic reaction, your body sets off an alarm; it recognizes that there is an invader and produces an inflammatory reaction. In the case of hay fever and seasonal allergies, the body is overreacting to pollen. The body ineffectively sees the pollen as a threat and, in response, releases histamine. Histamine causes the body to bring fluid to the area that is under attack. This abnormal response causes itchiness, swelling, and all of the uncomfortable feelings you have during an allergic reaction. 

Traditional Sources for Allergy Relief

Although there is quite a bit of literature about what produces an allergy, there seems to be very little focus on how to fix the underlying cause of allergies. Of course, the first line of defense needs to be to try to eliminate exposure to those things that cause you the most issues.  Beyond that, conventional allergy treatments are antihistamine drugs, avoiding the things that make you allergic, and allergy shots. There are things that we have found in our practice that help people with the annoying and sometimes life-altering reactions that allergy sufferers have to deal with, and some of our patients have seen a vast improvement in their allergy symptoms.

How Can Chiropractic Care bring on Allergy Relief?

At Keystone Chiropractic, we practice upper cervical care, a unique chiropractic discipline focusing on the intimate relationship of the upper cervical spine and the central nervous system. The junction where the head meets the neck is inherently unstable. On average, the head weighs 10-13 pounds, and it rests on the top vertebra (called the atlas) which weighs only 2 ounces. As we go through life, traumas such as car accidents, slip and falls, and sports injuries can cause the atlas to shift out of position and become locked out-of-place. This starts a chain reaction through the entire body that weakens the function of the body.

In 2015, an article in NeuroScience News published an article referencing a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study indicates that the immune system is directly under the control of the nervous system.  As a result, a misalignment at the atlas level over time can insidiously cause immune system problems.

The immune system health is a crucial ally in fighting off allergy symptoms. It releases antibodies to combat allergic reactions. Misalignments disrupt communication between the central nervous system and other parts of your body, making you more susceptible to allergies. Correcting spinal misalignment may not eliminate all allergy symptoms. Aligning the atlas, however, sets up your natural immune system to help fight off the effects of allergens.

In our experience, people who suffer from a whole range of allergy symptoms greatly improve when they have their atlas corrected. Here is a video explaining more about the procedure we use.

Your Body Can Heal Itself

Remember: your body can and will heal itself. You just need to try some things that give it a chance for natural healing. Nature needs no help, just no interference. Where there is a problem, there is a cause. Don’t settle for the treatment of symptoms.  Allergy relief may be as simple as getting your your upper cervical spine checked for spinal cord interference. 

About Keystone Chiropractic

As an engineer, Dr. Schurger looks at the whole body as a system to determine what is best for each patient. Custom spinal imaging is performed for each patient in order to create a custom correction. Dr. Schurger has transformed himself through the ketogenic diet and offers nutritional advice to help patients improve their overall health (weight loss being a side effect). His practice, Keystone Chiropractic is at 450 S. Durkin Drive, Ste. B, Springfield. Call 217-698-7900 to setup a complementary consultation to see if he can help you!