A Better Way to Stop Allergic Rhinitis than Taking Shots

You wouldn't think that Japan and central Texas would have much in common. They clearly have very different landscapes. They are almost polar opposites in cuisine and culture. And even the best English-speakers from Japan have to listen very carefully to understand Texas speech.

A common health condition in both locations, however, is allergy to cedar fever. Known as "kafunso" in Japan and as "cedar fever" in Texas, approximately 10 million people in both locations suffer from tree pollen allergies in the winter and early spring.

Cedar and juniper trees are abundant in both locations. Japan planted cedars to reforest hills burned during wartime. Texans planted "cedars" to replace trees eaten by hordes of goats. Both locations have vast areas covered by a single kind of fast-growing tree, about 12 per cent of the total land surface of Japan, and about 12 per cent of the total land surface of Texas.

The symptoms of tree pollen allergies are likened to having a non-infectious case of flu for six to eight weeks each and every year. And it's very hard to function if you have to take antihistamines and nose sprays for that long.

Treating tree pollen allergies with allergy shots

Since the 1960's, Texans have been getting treatment for tree pollen allergies with allergic desensitization shots. Japanese allergy sufferers will be able to get the treatment in 2014, but this is not necessarily a good thing.

"Allergy shots" have been around since 1910. The idea behind the method is that if the body is exposed to an extremely tiny amount of the offending substance by injection, it won't react. More and more concentrated injections are given over a period of months until, it is to be hoped, the allergy sufferer no longer has any allergies at all.

There is one major downside to this technique. If the "shot" contains too much of the allergen, potentially fatal anaphylaxis can result. Texans used to be given vials of anti-allergy serum and taught to given themselves injections at home, until too many users of the shots were dying of anaphylactic reactions.

Do allergy shots really work?

Another question about this technique is whether it really works. Identifying exactly the right pollen for making the serum requires a lot of work, so patients usually get a "one mixture treats all" serum that the allergist hopes contains the right pollen. Maybe it does, and maybe it doesn't.

The other issue is that allergies can go away on their own, without any discernible reason, and they can come back on their own, also without any discernible reason. You can take a long, expensive course of treatment for an allergy that you were going to get over with or without taking shots, and you can also develop a new allergy "out of the blue."

Shots have their limitations, and medications have their limitations. So what is an pollen sufferer to do?

Treating allergic rhinitis with massage.

One of the oldest therapies for allergies is acupressure. Applying gentle pressure to predetermined points on the body, acupressure is sometimes explained as interrupting, amplifying, diminishing, or redirected the flow of the vital force "chi" throughout the body. But you don't have to understand or accept Traditional Chinese Medicine for acupressure to work for you.