Any "Alternative Medicine" Treatments for Allergic Rhinitis?

[Mike]

Has anyone out there had any luck with non-traditional approaches to preventing or treating allergic rhinitis? The use of a variety of nonprescription and prescription meds has offered a fair amount of relief, but it's still an annoyance.

[hootowl]

The prescription meds don't do anything to treat the cause.

The first place to start would be to look for food sensitivities that are not compatible with your metabolic type. Next would be to look at gut function via labs.

 

In my work as a nutritional therapist I would ask that you write a diet diary; everything you eat and drink for one week and proceed from there.

[gregpopovich]

Might I suggest cutting out all dairy products from your diet (i.e., milk, cheese, etc.). They all cause mucus & since I've cut back substantially on dairy & my chronic sinus problems have improved greatly

[Mike]

The prescription meds don't do anything to treat the cause.

The first place to start would be to look for food sensitivities that are not compatible with your metabolic type. Next would be to look at gut function via labs.

 

In my work as a nutritional therapist I would ask that you write a diet diary; everything you eat and drink for one week and proceed from there.

 

 

Might I suggest cutting out all dairy products from your diet (i.e., milk, cheese, etc.). They all cause mucus & since I've cut back substantially on dairy & my chronic sinus problems have improved greatly

 

Thanks. Have already done all of the above (including tests for food sensitivities, gut function, and other genetic factors . . . hugely expensive). The change of diet (including elimination of dairy products and most gluten) yielded some relief, but truthfully it wasn't a big help. Having gone down that road with minimal success, we're now back at the point of conventional western medicine (histamine blockers, etc.), though the diet changes have not been abandoned. It's still far from under control, though, and the the thought of being forever on meds isn't too attractive.

 

There are any number of whacked-out "remedies" on the web and I'm willing to try them, within reason. There surely must be some straightforward alternatives that offer some relief.

[Foot]

I have a friend that cannot take any sinus medication and he swears by the Neti pot. Linky

 

Alan

[Limecreek]

I have a friend that cannot take any sinus medication and he swears by the Neti pot. Linky

 

 

Alan

 

My eldest daughter Sara suggested I use one of the little pots and at first I thought she had completely lost her mind.

 

"Uh, you want me to pour warm salt water out of the pot and into my nostril, and then let it fill up my sinuses and run out the other nostril?"

 

I got past the sheer lunacy of the whole idea and am glad I did. It works. I haven't touched my allergy meds in 3 months. My sinus headaches are gone.

[StuGotz]

Dood!

 

Try this:

 

NeilMed Sinus Rinse. Gotta do it everyday. And try to remove your allergens from the environment in which you play.

 

www.neilmed.com

 

This should help with nasal irritation. Be sure you do not have a nasal infection, ear infection, or blocked passages. You may complicate your condition.

 

It works. No strange chemicals. Sodium cloride and sodium bicarbonate.

 

Good luck

 

MB>

[philbytx]

Have you tried simple warm water "snuffing"???

[Whip]

I have a friend that cannot take any sinus medication and he swears by the Neti pot. Linky

 

 

Alan

 

My eldest daughter Sara suggested I use one of the little pots and at first I thought she had completely lost her mind.

 

"Uh, you want me to pour warm salt water out of the pot and into my nostril, and then let it fill up my sinuses and run out the other nostril?"

 

I got past the sheer lunacy of the whole idea and am glad I did. It works. I haven't touched my allergy meds in 3 months. My sinus headaches are gone.

 

 

 

Isn't that water boarding????????????

 

 

[StuGotz]

 

<Isn't that water boarding????????????>

 

 

Uh OH

 

MB>

[fanosix]

I teaspoon of local bee honey per day. Only works at home

[Selden]

+1 on Sinus Rinse. My ENT guy recommended it prior to sinus surgery to remove polyps about 5 years ago. I've been religiously waterboarding myself daily since then, twice daily during Atlanta pollen season ("only" 800 pp/m3 today, compared with >3000 two weeks ago).

 

On the drug side, antileukotrienes such as Singulair are a different class of medication from antihistamines, and do not cause drowsiness.

 

Since getting my sinuses under control, my asthma has virtually disappeared after 60 years.