Treating allergic rhinitis right

By Lee Sung-hun

With spring in full swing, temperatures fluctuate day to day. Combined with spring pollens, many people suffer from various allergic reactions. Some sneeze for no apparent reason, some complain of blocked sinus and others cough with unpleasant phlegm. Some people resort to taking cold medicines, but they only seem to temporarily alleviate the symptoms.

Such symptoms may worsen depending on the weather, and improve for no other clear reasons. Family and friends often think that they have a cold all year long. Such symptoms are, however, typical signs of allergic rhinitis.

Occasionally, allergic rhinitis patients mistake their illness for a common sinus cold, and I have had patients who took sinus medicines for extended periods of time before visiting my clinic to be diagnosed with allergic rhinitis. Sinus cold and allergic rhinitis are completely different in their progression and thus their treatment.

Common allergens for allergic rhinitis are pollens, dust mites and animal hairs, and most patients describe their sinus being itchy before sneezing unexpectedly. Main symptoms include clear nasal discharge, sneezing and blocked sinus, and the symptoms occur repeatedly. It is not infectious and sometimes accompanied by itchiness in the nose, eyes, throat and ear canals.

In contrast, sinus colds are caused by viral infection. While they share the nasal discharge and blocked sinus among their primary symptoms, they also include phlegm, wet coughing, fatigue, headaches, throat pain and fever. In addition, while allergic rhinitis symptoms are at their worst in the morning after waking up and improve throughout the day, sinus cold symptoms do not change through the course of a day.

The nasal passage can be regarded as a very well-performing radiator that keeps the air that we breathe in, whether it is cold or hot outside, at a constant temperature of about 35 degree Celsius. However, for allergic rhinitis patients, the fluctuations in the outside temperature is treated as alien substances from the air, so our body attempts to blow the air out through sneezing or wash it out with discharge.

In Oriental medicine, allergic rhinitis is caused by issues in the lungs and spleen-stomach organs. Oriental medicine views the lungs as respiratory organs in charge of bodily immunity that includes the anatomical lungs as well as the skin.

When the right qi is sufficiently present in the lungs, the person is less prone to nose-related illness, and can avoid common flu and other infections. Therefore, to treat allergic rhinitis, Oriental medicine attempts to alleviate the symptoms by strengthening the lungs to enhance the nasal cavity’s ability to regulate the temperature, and to prevent future recurrences.

Spleen-stomach organs include the anatomical organs of the stomach and spleen, but Oriental medicine views the entire digestive system and circulation in the four limbs. Depleted qi in the spleen-stomach organs can lead to lack of appetite, and lowered ability to digest the food, meaning upset stomachs and diarrhea. Such conditions have a negative effect on the body’s overall health that can adversely affect immunity, making the patient prone to various allergies. Therefore, allergy patients with declined digestive functions are initially treated to normalize digestive functions.

One of the best known medical herbs to improve the qi in lungs and spleen-stomach is ginseng. Red-ginseng is known to be effective against allergic rhinitis, and a recent study revealed that it is especially effective against blocked sinus.

While the common treatment for allergic rhinitis generally involves anti-histamine, which has some known side-effects — most noticeably, drowsiness, red-ginseng can offer a more natural alternative. However, as some people’s body constitutions are not fit for ginseng, it is best to consult with your oriental medicine doctor. Also, upon consultation, the doctor can also prescribe other ingredients that can better the overall effects.

Acupuncture is commonly used to treat rhinitis. Even pressing the right acupuncture points with bare hands frequently can help. The points are next to the alar sidewalls, below the eyes, middle and top of the forehead.

Allergic rhinitis is not an illness that can be completely cured, and thus the aim of treatments is to reduce the symptoms to the degree where one can maintain normal life. It also means that daily management of the symptoms is very essential.

Regular exercise can improve the motility in the blood vessels in the nose, but it should be avoided while the air outside is cold. Nasal irrigation with warm saline solution at about 40 degree Celscius is also useful. If the water is not warm enough or plain tap water is used instead of saline solution, it can aggravate the conditions.

Using air-humidifiers to maintain a 50- to 60-percent humidity in the house is also a good practice. However, directly inhaling the humidified air straight out of the machine is not recommended, so the humidifier is best located out of reach.

The writer practices Korean Oriental medicine at the UN Oriental Medical Clinic in Hannam-dong, Seoul. He can be reached at sung_hun@naver.com.