I'm wondering if anyone has attempted to treat nut alleries or any other food allergies (not intolerances) in their young children with traditional chinese medicine and or accupuncture/pressure. Have you had any success in at least reducing severity?
Any referrals and ideas would be helpful.
Nope. My accupuncturist told me that accupuncture is not the right way to treat severe allergies (like nuts). So on her recommendation, we didn't even try. She did say that for less severe allergies - ones that don't have the risk of anaphalactic shock, accupuncture can be a tool.
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There is a technique called "Brain Integration Technique" or BIT (also known as Crossinology) that uses the acupuncture meridians to "re-program" neuropathways. My oldest son completed 4 of 8 sessions before we ran out of time and money a while ago but we do intend to go back. He was being treated for a variety of issues and we did see improvement. One of the things we tried to clear was oral allergies but that didn't work because they're really pollen allergies and it was the wrong time of year. Anyway...one patient in that office who I talked to cleared her allergies to seafood and cats via this treatment. It's probably worth looking into.
I would never put total trust in lessening something severe. Acupuncture can lessen symptoms, and help cope but cant take them completely away. Its also a false crutch. You may feel better, as a placebo effect, and then suddenly it will come on full force. Usually when your not expecting it. If you are told you have a severe allergy, you should always use caution around the thing that causes it, even if the reactions are less or almost gone.
I did acupuncture for years for various things. I made the mistake of taking for granted I was cured of my Mildew and mold allergies, till I went on vacation to Florida and ended up in the ER needing breathing treatments.
They are currently doing studies on a chinese herbal formula called FAHF-2 that can mitigate or prevent the anaphylactic response. It has some kind of effect on the immune system. You can look up all the research articles on pubmed.com. It's really very, very promising.
I would be very wary of all the pseudo-science and new-agey "programs" out there like NAET. Like others have said, you might think you're cured until you have a future exposure that results in a full blown anaphylactic reaction.
There's also a promising oral immunotherapy protocol in clinical trials at Duke U. under Dr. Burks. They give patients very small doses of the allergen to ingest at the start, and then very, very slowly increase the dosage until they build up a tolerance.
And I've heard of a skin patch therapy where the allergen is absorbed through the skin. Sort of like a nicorrette patch. I think you increase the dosage in the patch until a certain level of tolerance is achieved. Last I heard, this was being studied/used in the UK.
Look into NAET for allergies. I would be careful if your child has a severe nut allergy. NAET has been shown to work, but it involves holding the thing your are allergic to in your hand and people with nut allergies cannot handle that.
