How to fix your allergies

Laser bio-feedback treatment is new to the US, but has been used in Europe and Australia for a couple of years already. Although it is new for allergy treatment, bio-feedback has been used for many years; biofeedback is the process of becoming aware of various physiological functions using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will. Biofeedback has been used to improve health or performance and the physiological changes often occur in conjunction with changes to thoughts, emotions and behavior. Eventually the changes will be maintained without the use of the extra equipment. Essentially, you’re re-training the body to function a different way, in this case the purpose is to re-train the body NOT to react to allergies.

Seasonal allergies affect more than 35 million Americans each year and the symptoms will be sneezing, wheezing, runny nose and itchy, watery, red eyes. These reactions occur, because your body is reacting to these harmless molecules of pollen just as they would a foreign invader like a common cold.

Your body will produce antibodies just like it would for any foreign threat, and these antibodies will attach themselves to mast cells, which contain a variety of substances, including histamines. Histamines circulate in the body causing many of the symptoms associated with an allergic reaction, affecting the nose, lungs, throat, skin and digestive tract. These reactions will depend on the allergen (eg pollen, peanut). Some of these symptoms develop within minutes while others appear after hours. These symptoms are your body trying to prevent the foreign invader from entering your body as well as expelling the ones that have already entered your body.

This is your immune system trying to defend itself and it gets “hard-wired ” to respond faster and harder the next time this foreign invader comes around. Unfortunately in this case your body is over-reacting to a harmless piece of pollen. That is why some people describe this as your immune system over-reacting by producing antibodies and releasing histamines each time your body encounters the piece of pollen.

Although relief is drugstore counter away, many are getting tired of side effects which may include: drowsiness, impaired thinking ability, increased appetite, decreased sex drive, depression, anxiety, altered taste/smell and possible infertility issues.

These medications stop the histamine reaction and treat other symptoms and work well for some. Some have also found success with the previously controversial immuno-therapy with allergy shots. This works by “desensitizing” your body to the allergy, and works well for some, but not all. It wasn’t too long ago that this form of allergy treatment was viewed as alternative and was considered by some as a form of quackery, but now it is widely accepted and covered by most insurance carriers.

Laser bio-feedback is in its early stages, and will hopefully be widely accepted in the near future like other allergy treatments. Treatment is focused on working on the nervous system and not the antibodies or immune system like other therapies. Remember, the nervous system is the master controller of the entire body. The machine uses digital versions of different allergens (eg Bermuda grass) and exposes them to your skin while measuring how your body reacts to those different allergens. The machine is able to use digital versions of the allergens because every substance on the planet will have a specific harmonic frequency and these will be able to mimic the different allergens.

Once the reaction is identified, the computer can stimulate the allergen again while using an induction laser on the nerve bundles in the ear (on acupuncture points) and along the brainstem and spinal cord to re-train your nervous system not to react to those allergens. An induction laser merely transmits information, so it is the computer communicating with your nervous system and it is telling your body not perceive the piece of pollen or grass in this case as a foreign invader.

Since this is a digital stimulation of the allergen, it will not be to the same effect as a real allergy encounter so there is no risk of having an anaphylactic shock, but some people will get some flushing and post nasal drip after the treatment which is actually a sign that it is working. Aside from that, there are no other side effects or major risks. Larger clinical studies are underway, but data from other clinics around the country have shown 4 out of 5 people to become symptom free after the treatments. The number of treatments varies from individual to individual but it does take several treatments in most cases to re-train your body. This is a small price to pay for many who have suffered for a lifetime.

Dr. Hashimoto, DC is offering a free allergy consultation for anyone who would like to know more about laser biofeedback. He is located in La Quinta at Washington St and 48th avenue behind the Walgreens. His office number is 760-777-8377.