Acupuncture of Indiana
520 N Madison Ave. Suite H, Greenwood, IN 46142 (317)946-6767 | 300 E Main St. Suite C, Carmel, IN 46032
Allergy Treatment Services
Acupuncture of Indiana, LLC, offers a holistic approach for the relief of symptoms associated with allergies and sensitivities.
At Acupuncture of Indiana, LLC, we utilize the Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT) protocol, a non-invasive treatment that provides fast, long-term relief from the many symptoms associated with allergies and sensitivities.
The AAT protocol is ideal for children as well as adults because it is:
- Non-invasive
- No needles
- No drugs
- No herbal remedies
- No supplements
- No avoidance
Allergies and sensitivities are caused by an error: the body is responding inappropriately to a harmless substance. AAT treats the overreaction by reducing the stress on the body in relation to the offending substance, creating a positive association so that the body may respond more appropriately. AAT merges 21st century science with 3,000-year-old traditional acupuncture principles in offering an effective alternative in the treatment of symptoms associated with allergies and sensitivities.
What is AAT?
Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT) is a clinically proven treatment that is effective in relieving the many symptoms associated with allergies and sensitivities. It is a therapeutic approach that was developed from over 15 years of clinical research, reconditioning the body to respond more appropriately to harmless substances. The success of the treatment is attributed to the extensive knowledge base and in-depth study of the allergens and offending agents, allowing for the treatment of a broad range of symptoms. The AAT treatment does not rely on the use of medications, herbal remedies or supplements. The treatment is safe, painless and available to all ages including infants.
How AAT Works
AAT treats the symptoms associated with allergies and sensitivities by reducing the biological stress caused by the offending substance. Gentle pressure is used to stimulate points on the back, which correspond with the major organ systems. According to traditional acupuncture theory, this stimulation reduces stress and temporarily strengthens each of the major organ systems. During treatment, a subtle representation of the substance is introduced to the surface of the skin. Acupressure stimulation is then applied to reduce the stress load caused by the substance. The body associates the enhanced state with the substance, allowing for a more appropriate response.
The degree of stress on the organ systems, caused by an allergen, is proportional to the degree of the negative reaction. By easing the stress on the organ system involved, the related symptoms are also reduced.
AAT does not diagnose allergies, sensitivities or intolerances.
AAT does not test for allergies or sensitivities. The AAT system simply assesses what may be causing a stress to the body.
AAT does not cure allergies. The treatment is highly effective in providing long-term relief from symptoms associated with allergies or sensitivities.
Conditions Treated
Digestive System - Reactions include Acid Reflux, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), abdominal and intestinal pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea and vomiting. Primarily caused by food allergens or other ingestants.
Respiratory System - Symptoms include hay fever, wheezing, asthma, skin conditions, rashes and itchy, watery eyes. Reactions may be caused by allergies/sensitivities to pollens, dust, food, chemicals and animals (including dog and cat dander and bird feathers), air-borne substances and contactants.
Dermatological symptoms - May include eczema, skin rashes, hives, blisters and atopic dermatitis. The main cause of dermatological reactions is allergies/sensitivities to food but can also be caused by allergies to plants, contactants and chemicals.
Headaches and Migraines - Caused by allergies/sensitivities to food such as chocolate and caffeine, airborne irritants such as pollens and chemicals including household cleaners, perfumes and vehicle fumes.
Tiredness and Fatigue - Many reactions result in lethargy and feelings of fatigue. Tiredness can also occur at certain times of the day, such as in the afternoon after eating.
Multiple Systems - Allergies/sensitivities affect multiple systems in the body, resulting in headaches, irritability, hyperactivity, mood swings, fatigue, tachycardia, or inflammation. In children such reactions can manifest as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is often accompanied with redness around the eyes and nose and repetitive behavior patterns.
General Chemicals - Household cleaners, perfumes, building materials, washing detergent, pesticides
Occupational Allergies - such as latex or building materials
Animals - Dander, saliva, fur
Heat, cold and humidity/dampness
Many common conditions may include symptoms from allergies or sensitivities, for example asthma, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). However not all such cases are allergic reactions.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is primarily caused by sensitivities and affects approximately 15% of the population. Common symptoms include diarrhea, constipation, bloating and abdominal pain.
Skin allergies/sensitivities are a particularly common allergic reaction and include eczema, dermatitis and hives.
Substances Treated
AAT treats allergens found in the following groups:
- Contactants
- Inhalants
- Ingestants
- Injectants
AAT can treat any substance or stimulus that causes a negative reaction, including:
What Allergies Cannot Be Treated and Why?
The AAT treatment can only address conditions caused by inappropriate reactions to harmless substances or stimuli. If the condition involves pathogens, (bacteria, viruses or parasites) the treatment will not be able to affect such cases.
AAT cannot treat lactose intolerance. If the symptoms are related to an allergy to milk or other dairy products, the treatment can be very effective. However, lactose intolerance in not an allergy, it is the inability to digest certain amounts of lactose, the major sugar found in milk. The condition is caused by a deficiency of the enzyme lactase, which is produced by the cells of the lining in the small intestine. Lactose intolerance is often confused with dairy allergies because the symptoms are similar, yet they are unrelated. However, the two conditions can occur together and in such cases, the AAT treatment can offer partial benefit.
While AAT can treat the many symptoms associated with allergies or sensitivities, some cases do not respond to the treatment.
The treatment may also be complicated by multiple symptoms, some of which may not be the result of an allergy. In addition, some sufferers have more than one substance contributing to one specific allergy symptom. This compounds the challenge in identifying the correct substance responsible for the reaction.
Has The AAT Treatment Been Medically Proven?
Advanced Allergy Therapeutics is not a medical treatment. It has been developed from an entirely different field of therapeutics using the principles of traditional acupuncture. However, multiple scientific studies on acupuncture and acupressure stimulation have shown specific biological effects that contribute to a relaxed state, such as a release in endogenous opioids and oxytocin, which also seem to be essential in the induction of functional changes of different organ systems. Studies also show a release in endorphins which resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being.
Additionally, studies have shown that manual nerve stimulation can also give a sustained reduction in blood pressure. Alterations in blood pressure and heart rate are general results of sympathetic tone changes and patients with essential hypertension have shown reductions in blood pressure when treated with acupuncture.*
The measureable effects of acupuncture and acupressure in the reduction of biological stress provide scientific evidence of the mechanism involved in the effectiveness of the AAT method.
*Acupuncture- from Empiricism to Science: Functional Background to Acupuncture Effects in Pain and Disease S. Andersson and T. Lundeberg
What Qualifications Do AAT Practitioners Have?
All AAT practitioners are fully credentialed health care professionals, including medical doctors, RNs, Osteopaths, acupuncturists, naturopaths, chiropractors and holistic veterinarians.
Does AAT Treat Anaphylaxis?
AAT does not treat cases involving anaphylaxis or life threatening symptoms.
How Long Will The Result Last?
For over fifteen years, AAT patients have consistently reported long-term results. However, AAT cannot guarantee that symptoms won't recur or that new allergies or sensitivities will not develop in the future.
Why Should Allergy Sufferers Choose AAT
Patients are advised to seek the most effective treatment for their case. Conventional treatment involves avoidance of the allergen, medications to reduce the symptoms of the allergic reaction or injections to desensitize the patient to the allergen.
Drugs such as antihistamines may relieve symptoms of the allergy. Many over-the-counter and prescribed medications can be very effective and offer significant relief.
Desensitizing the patient to the allergen involves a series of injections over a long-term period.
Avoiding substances that cause allergic reactions may be impossible for many sufferers, as is the case with allergies to airborne pollens, pollution or chemicals in building materials. For people with multiple allergies/sensitivities, particularly to food, avoidance can have a considerable impact on the patient's quality of life, as they can often be heavily restricted to what they can eat.
Advanced Allergy Therapeutics offers effective relief from symptoms associated with allergies and sensitivities without the need for avoidance or the use of herbal or homeopathic remedies or special diets.
Disclaimer: AAT does not treat the symptoms of allergies or sensitivities involving life threatening reactions or anaphylaxis. Therefore strict avoidance is always advised.
What is an Allergy
Allergies are a physiological error. The body reacts negatively to harmless substances, foods or stimuli. The word "allergy" comes from the Greek allos, meaning "other". It was first used in 1906 to refer to an "altered reaction" in the body's immune system.
An allergic reaction occurs when the body comes in contact with the allergen. This can occur through contact with the skin, inhalation, injection or ingestion of the substance.
Medical treatment includes: avoidance of the allergen, medications to reduce the symptoms of the allergic reaction or injections to desensitize the patient to the allergen. The medical classification of a "true allergy" requires an IgE-mediated response. However, there are also non-IgE-immune sensitivities as well as involvement with IgA, IgG or IgG4.
The use of the word "allergy" has become a generic term used by the public to describe allergies, sensitivities and intolerances. The distinction of a true allergy based on immunoglobulin involvement is generally unknown. Therefore, the term "allergy" is often understood as a term for any negative reaction from exposure to a benign substance. AAT treats the symptoms caused by any negative or inappropriate reaction regardless if the symptoms are caused by allergies or sensitivities.
Allergies vs. Sensitivities
True food allergies are based on exposure to a specific protein component of a food. The immune system incorrectly perceives the protein as a threat and produces antibodies in response. With repeated exposure, cells release histamine and other biochemicals in response to the allergenic food. It is these chemicals that cause the allergy symptoms. True food allergies are estimated to affect less than 2 percent of adults and 4 to 8 percent of young children and infants.
Food sensitivities are much more common, although estimates vary. Sensitivities are abnormal reactions to food or food components that do not involve the immune system, but involve the body as a whole. There are three types of food sensitivities:
1. A metabolic food disorder occurs when a person is genetically unable to properly or fully metabolize a food component. This includes lactose intolerance (inability to metabolize lactose), which is different from dairy allergies. A dairy allergy can be treated successfully with AAE whereas a true lactose intolerance cannot be treated. However, it is common for people with reactions to dairy to be misdiagnosed as lactose intolerant when the condition is actually a sensitivity.
Another example of a metabolic food disorder is favism (genetic deficiency causing a sensitivity to a chemical in fava beans).
2. Food idiosyncrasy is another form of sensitivity with an abnormal response to a food or food component, but the mechanism for the response is unknown. The symptoms can resemble those of an allergy and can be either severe or mild. Sulfite-induced asthma is one example and causes asthmatic reactions in 1.7 percent of all asthmatics.
3. An anaphylactoid response is a type of reaction that elicits the same release of histamine as a true food allergy, but it does not involve the immune system. The specific substance that causes this reaction has not yet been identified. The response is not the same as anaphylaxis.
Allergies in North America
- Approximately one in five or more than 50 millions (53,980,772) Americans suffer from allergic diseased
- An estimated 37,786,541 Americans have a pollen allergy
- Between six and seven million adults in the US have a food allergy
- Roughly 20 million Americans have asthma--three times as many as 25 years ago. One in eight children suffer from the disease
- It is estimated that 12,000,000 Americans have food allergies
- In 2002, approximately 14 million office visits to health care providers were attributed to allergic rhinitis
- Allergies are the 6th leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the health care system $18 billion annually
- Chronic sinusitis is the most commonly reported chronic disease, affecting 16.3% of people (nearly 32 million) in the United States in 1997
- It is estimated in 1998 that increased absenteeism and reduced productivity due to allergies cost U.S. companies more than $250 million
- The estimated overall costs of allergic rhinitis in the United States in 1996 totaled $6 billion
- The Cincinnati Children's Hospital states that not only has the number of children suffering from allergies increased, so has the severity of the allergic reactions
- Over 6 million people in Canada have allergies
- An estimated 4,182,998 Canadians suffer from pollen allergies
- 12% of Canadian children are affected by asthma and it continues to be a major cause of hospitalization in Canada
- In 1993, over $12 billion was spent on asthma
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