Chronic Sinusitis

The short answer is, yes, Chinese Medicine both acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine is extremely helpful and very commonly treats allergies, sinusitis and that entire range of issues. Some of our general pointers is on our sinusitis treatment page (somewhat more relevant for practitioners).

My articles on self-help for seasonal allergies discusses some of the relevant basics from a Chinese Medicine perspective. I think the biggest disconnect between the western approach and the eastern approach is in the value (or meaning) or allergy testing. For the most part when your body is inflamed and in an alarm state you are more than likely going to respond to all types of “allergens”. That is just what the body is going to do when it is in that state. The harder your body is struggling to make sense out of these stimulations, the more that you are going to show up as “allergic” to. If people went to the allergist when they are symptom free - this is obviously less likely - but that’s not when they go.

The general idea from the Chinese side (as you can’t possibly remove all trees, grass, etc.) is to calm the response factors to allow the body to be comfortable and non-reactive to what it is exposed to. We do that by stopping inflammatory markers and strengthening systems in the body that Chinese Medicine views as contributing to these responses when they are weak. Not by constantly adjusting the body to stimulations by overloading it like they do with western allergy treatments.

I treat a very broad range of folks with these issues and most have already been down the allergy treatment road for years to decades before they finally make it in to see me for Chinese Medicine treatment. For the most part they are improved within 2-3 months and greatly improved over a course of possible a year. I have many patients who simply do not have allergies anymore and I practice in one of the worst cities in the country for allergies.

Now all that said, while there are a few formulas like Xin Yi Qing Fei Wan or Bi Yan Wan that will likely get people started in the right direction. The absolute best response will be to see a practitioner, obtain a proper Chinese Medicine diagnosis and treatment tailored to that (see “Treating the cause and not the symptoms” for more on that).

Ultimately with some dietary change and proper Chinese Medicine treatment you should be fine. Better symptoms wise in the short run and very limited issues overall in the long run.

When you mention your hair loss, this is one reason why seeing a practitioner is best. We take all of your issues and relationships in the body into consideration. Generally hair loss is either from thyroid issues (although the thyroid may test fine) or from what we call spleen blood deficiency (see “My spleen is what?” for more on that). A weak spleen system in Chinese Medicine (essentially your digestive/metabolic system) can definitely be behind some of the inflammatory and reactionary factors leading to allergy issues.

If you are in the Chattanooga area, you could certainly see me. You can see more about my clinic here, or .

That said, nearly any acupuncturist should be able to take care of you with this range of issues. And, yes, it is very likely to feel much worse for a few hours to a day after the first couple treatments. Primarily because it makes all the mucus move and it doesn’t yet have a clear path to release. Generally you will expect more improvement after the 3-5 treatment range.

After many years of chronic on the sinusitis, I finally found the Chinese formula Allerphase from Tango Nutrition. The herbs involved do not look that unusual, and I looked into why it might be so effective, it has to do with the family held secret of 200 processing steps. in any case it was the first formula that ever truly helped a very serious case of chronic 24 seven sinusitis, I myself am a Chinese herbalist so I have tried a lot of of the things. This was the first one that actually made a really big difference -- take two caps and feel better in half an hour!