Chiropractor for Allergies

The most common reason that people see a chiropractor is to help treat ongoing back pain. However, chiropractors seek to help boost your entire immune system though spinal manipulation, which may help improve health ailments such as those associated with allergies. Continuous allergy symptoms should be checked by a medical doctor for traditional forms of treatment, since spinal manipulation does not directly cure any allergies.

Function

• According to "The American Chiropractor," chiropractic care is not a direct form of treatment for allergies. However, regular adjustments help boost your immune system. A better-functioning immune system decreases your chance of allergy-related illnesses such as sinus infections. Chiropractic care is also designed to allow your body to heal itself from diseases. Overall, chiropractic adjustments for allergies purportedly help reduce symptom flareups.

Adjustments

• All types of chiropractic adjustments are designed to help alleviate subluxations, which are stresses within the nervous system. This is achieved by readjusting your spine and its muscles and tissues along it. "The American Chiropractor" recommends a specific chiropractic technique for allergy patients called the Koren Specific Technique (KST). KST utilizes bio-indicator tools to locate subluxations that may be related to allergies. KST also uses psychology by placing the patient in a state of mind where they imagine a dissipation of allergies.

Effectiveness

• Seeking treatment from a chiropractor may improve your health in some ways, though it is not a proven method of treatment for ailments like allergies. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AFA), there is not enough scientific evidence that supports chiropractic care as an effective treatment for allergies.

Considerations

• Chiropractic care should not replace medical treatment, because it does not directly treat allergies. You should not seek a chiropractic adjustment if you have pre-existing nerve damage or osteoporosis, because it can worsen these conditions. Talk to your doctor to see if receiving chiropractic adjustments can possibly improve your symptoms along with medication. Keep in mind that not all health insurance companies cover alternative practices like chiropractic care.

Precautions

• Although chiropractic care is a type of alternative medicine that may help improve allergy symptoms, the Mayo Clinic reports that there are possible side effects associated with it. Common side effects include fatigue, pain and headache. These side effects are felt within days of an adjustment. More serious risks from nerve manipulation through an adjustment include stroke, a herniated disk and cauda equine syndrome, a condition that causes compression of nerves in the lower spinal column, leading to pain, weakness and loss of feeling in the legs.