All About Allergies with Allergy Relief Care, LLC

What Are Allergies and Sensitivities?

Allergies and sensitivities occur when the body misinterprets something harmless like a food, pollen, or environmental substance as a threat. In other words, the body mounts a reaction it doesn’t really need to.

These “errors” can involve almost any system in the body, which is why symptoms vary so widely from person to person.

These reactions often develop during or after times of stress. Childhood trauma, a car accident, serious illness or hospitalization, pregnancy or menopause, or even prolonged everyday stress can make the body more prone to developing allergies or sensitivities.

A true allergy involves the immune system, while a sensitivity can come from any system in the body such as the digestive, respiratory, or nervous systems. For simplicity, I’ll use the terms “allergy” and “sensitivity” interchangeably in this article.

What Are Some Common Allergy or Sensitivity Symptoms?

Symptoms can vary widely! For some, the reaction might involve the respiratory system; sneezing, coughing, a runny nose, or itchy eyes. Others may notice digestive changes such as bloating, heartburn, or symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Headaches or migraines, skin irritation, fatigue, or even changes in mood and behavior can also appear. Every person is unique, and every person’s reaction can look different.

Why Might I Develop Allergies Later in Life — or Notice Them Getting Worse Over Time?

It’s not uncommon for new allergies or sensitivities to appear later in life. New stressful events; whether emotional, physical, or environmental can lead to the development of allergies or sensitivities. For example, following the COVID-19 pandemic many people seemed to develop new allergies, likely due to an overall increase in social and emotional stress, as well as a new stress response in the body when exposed to the never-seen-before virus or vaccine.

A cumulative allergy effect can also occur over time. The more triggers that a body has a stress response to (i.e an allergy or sensitivity), the more the body is overall under stress, and the more likely you are to continue developing new triggers. Reducing stressful triggers and restoring balance in the body can often help reduce these reactions and improve the way you feel every day.

What Can Be Done to Feel Better?

Over the counter medications such as antihistamines, decongestants, nasal sprays, antacids, and pain relievers  can help suppress symptoms. Medical providers may also prescribe medications like steroids to help alleviate more severe symptoms. Traditional allergy and immunology practices can sometimes treat true allergies with exposure therapy through shots or sublingual drops to gradually train the immune system to become less sensitive to specific triggers.

Avoidance of the trigger can also help prevent symptoms from happening. Keeping an air purifier running in your home, particularly in bedrooms, can help minimize exposure to airborne allergens. Removing carpets, and installing dehumidifiers in basements can minimize mold in the home. Washing hands carefully after contact with a known trigger, or showering daily before bed during the Spring-Fall season can also help improve symptoms.

Alternatively, natural and holistic methods can improve the body’s resilience and restore balance  in responding to triggers which can improve symptoms. And a particular method called Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT) can retrain the body to no longer perceive a trigger to be a threat.  Allergy Relief Care is the only practice in Western MA that uses AAT which is gentle, works quickly, and can prevent the body from having any reactive response.

Finding Relief Through a Holistic Approach

If you’ve been struggling with allergies or sensitivities, know that your body isn’t “broken.” Your body is reacting to stress and imbalance as a protective mechanism,  in ways that can often be corrected. By addressing not just the symptoms but also the root cause of the stress responses that contribute to them, a holistic approach can help the body return to a calmer state without unpleasant symptoms.