Hay fever: Complementary Therapies to Help Children

As the hayfever season hits, experienced Nurse, Health Visitor and Lecturer in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Fiona Mantle, gives her advice on natural remedies for children:

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) subscribes to the philosophy of ‛winter disease summer cure', in other words, seasonal conditions should be prepared for during the preceding months. So ideally, the treatment of hay fever would start in the winter with a course of acupuncture to boost a child's immune system. One study of the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating hay fever showed that the levels of nasal eosinophils (the white blood vessels which are raised in allergic conditions) fell by 64% during the trial and by 76% in the two-month follow up. In China, children as young as babies have responded well to acupuncture (often being treated by painless electrical pulses rather than needles).

If you feel uneasy about acupuncture for your child, Homeopathy is a very effective gentle therapy. The homeopath will not only assess the child's hay fever symptoms and prescribe accordingly but also, because hay fever is a chronic condition, may prescribe a constitutional remedy to match the child's constitutional back ground and general health.

A variant of homeopathy called isopathy (meaning ‛same as') based on the concept of ‛let same be treated by same' works much in the same way as immunisation. For example, common pollens such as grass, flower, ragweed, rapeseed, rye grass, mugwort and nettle pollen to name but a few may be used in minimum doses as a treatment for allergy sufferers. (Also cat and dog hair, horse dander and many others are available.) However, it may take a couple of seasons for the full effect of the homeopathy to be felt.

Anthroposophical medicine (anthropos: human sophia: wisdom) offers a treatment which consists of a mixture of quince pulp and lemon juice called Genclydo (available from Weleda Ltd). The mixture acts on the mucous membranes and is administered as an inhalation or subcutaneous injection.

Another good easy remedy is local honey, since this contains all the local pollens and, if taken for a year, it can act as a desensitisation therapy.

Finally, herbal remedies shown to be effective include Golden Seal which has natural anti-histamine properties or Ground Ivy which has also shown to be anti-inflammatory. Another herb which has anti-histamine properties and has been shown in clinical trials to be of value in the treatment of hay fever is Butterbur. However, do not give your child any over-the-counter herbal remedies since they are not dispensed in the correct dosages for children. Always consult a medical herbalist first, that is someone with MIMH after their name.

For further help with childhood allergies contact Fiona Mantle at her website www.chatas.co.uk