Sunday, June 15, 2008

Allergic Rhinitis - Ayurvedic Concept


It is quite common in spring to see people sneezing. Allergic rhinitis commonly known as Hay fever is in full swing and you feel the urge to rub your nose, eyes and ears. Throat is constantly sore and itchy. This is all due to immune response to airborne pollens of different plants and flowers. In Ayurveda a disease is a state of imbalance in the three doshas present in the human body namely vata, pita and kapha.

Allergic rhinitis is also, one of those diseases. The most common cause of allergies is pollens of the grass, trees, weeds and molds. Rhinitis could range from mild nasal congestion to skin rashes. It can be extremely infectious, as in the case of the common cold and non-infectious when it comes to seasonal and allergies.

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of vataja prathisyaya (Ayurvedic name for Rhinitis) are: Nasanaha is nothing but nose block, Kaphasruti is running nose, rhinorrhoea and Kshava is sneezing. Sneezing may include paroxysms of 10-20 sneezes. Rhinorrhea is profuse, thin and watery. Headaches and earache may accompany nasal congestion and prolonged congestion may lead to alteration or loss of smell and taste. The treatment for allergic rhinitis involves anti-histamines, decongestants and immunotherapy. The line of treatment in ayurveda is nasya and dhoomapana. Shamana drugs like lakshmivilas ras, panchamrutha, septilin tablet, amrutharishta etc can be used.

Ayurvedic approach

Certain foods are more mucous producing and Ayurvedic medicine recognizes those foods as Kapha foods. Dairy, wheat, sugar, night shade family like potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, peppers, and bananas, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits all are considered Kapha foods, thus aggravating allergies. Diet rich in lots of fruits and vegetable of different colors are recommended, as they provide photochemical, which reduce susceptibility to allergies. Neti is nasal douching with salt and baking soda of the nasal passages, which helps soothe the irritated mucous membranes. Ayurvedic herbs like Guggul, Shilajeet, Amla and Pippli also help tremendously. Shilajeet is a mineral pitch that helps boost the immune system.

You can buy Septilin here

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