17-08-2009

Ragweed season is here again.

Ragweed season is here again. If you've recently started suffering from allergic symptoms such as headaches, congestion, itchy eyes, runny nose, etc., then there's a good chance that ragweed-- kentucky's unofficial state flower-- is involved. A clinical herbalist can help with this sort of siuation in three main ways-- 1. Getting rid of the symptoms. This is the most immediate step, relieving the actual symptoms that are interfering with your life, such as headaches, congestion, and difficulty breathing. Exactly which remedies are used will depend on which symptoms are presenting. 2. Modulating the immune response-- this involves reducing the substances in your body, made by your body, that produce these symptoms. A good example would be the use of Jewelweed or Crotal fluidextract, to block the histamines that the body produces. This works on a deeper level to reduce the symptoms of allergies. 3. Desensitizing-- this involves getting the body to recognize the allergens as essentially harmless, with the eventual goal that the patient will be able to come into contact with them, and not require treatment or have an allergic reaction. This process sometimes takes a couple of years to be fully effective. So, if you're suffering from late-summer allergies, consider a visit with your friendly neighborhood clinical herbalist.