Breathing Easy: How Chinese Medicine Supports Hay Fever, Sinusitis, Eye itching and Chronic Cough

Each Autumn, as well as in spring and summer, many people find themselves struggling with hay fever, sinus congestion, itchy eyes, coughing, or a throat full of phlegm.

These symptoms can affect focus, sleep, and overall quality of life. Even outside of allergy season, chronic sinusitis or lingering coughs often leave people feeling drained and frustrated.

While antihistamines and nasal sprays can provide temporary relief, Chinese Medicine offers a more comprehensive approach, aiming not only to ease symptoms but also to strengthen the body’s resilience over time.

How Acupuncture Helps

Acupuncture appears to influence the body’s immune and inflammatory responses through a finely tuned interaction between the nervous, hormonal, and immune systems.

This means its calming, anti-inflammatory effects can be directly relevant for conditions like hay fever and allergic rhinitis.

1. Reduces Inflammation

Histamine is one of the main chemicals behind allergy symptoms, causing swelling in the nose, itchy eyes, and sneezing.

Studies suggest that acupuncture can help regulate the immune system, lowering the release of histamine and easing the cascade of inflammation.

By gently rebalancing these responses, acupuncture may help reduce the intensity of seasonal flare-ups and bring the immune system back to a steadier state.

2. Regulates the Immune System

Acupuncture influences the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, helping balance immunity.

Instead of overreacting to harmless triggers like pollen, the body responds more calmly.

3. Opens Sinuses and Improves Breathing

Certain acupuncture points around the nose, forehead, and hands are used to relieve nasal congestion, sinus pressure, and cough.

Many patients report immediate relief, as sinuses begin to drain and breathing feels easier.

4. Calms the Nervous System

Itchy eyes, constant sneezing, or phlegm in the throat not only disturb the body but also increase stress.

Acupuncture activates the parasympathetic nervous system, reducing tension and allowing the body to heal more effectively.

🌸 Other Supportive Methods

In addition to acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and holistic practices offer tools to manage hay fever and sinus issues naturally:

• Auriculotherapy (Ear Acupuncture): Useful for calming inflammation, regulating immunity, and easing sinus pressure.

  
  

• Dietary Guidance:

  • Reduce dairy, sugar, and greasy foods, which contribute to mucus.

  • Increase warming, easy-to-digest foods like soups, ginger, and green vegetables.

  
  

• Breathing Exercises: Gentle nasal breathing or alternate nostril breathing can support lung function and calm the nervous system.

  
  

• Lifestyle Habits:

  • Rinse sinuses with saline water.

  • Keep windows closed on high pollen days.

  • Wash hair and clothes after being outdoors to reduce pollen exposure.

🌿 A Holistic View of Hay Fever and Sinus Issues

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, conditions like hay fever, sinusitis, and chronic cough are often linked to imbalances in the Lung and Spleen systems.

• The Lung system governs breathing, immunity, and the skin.

  When weakened or invaded by “wind” or “dampness,” symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, and itching arise.

  
  

• The Spleen system is key in processing fluids. If it is not functioning optimally, dampness and mucus accumulate, leading to sinus pressure, phlegm in the throat, and fatigue.

  
  

• The Liver system can also play a role, especially when stress worsens allergic flare-ups or causes more inflammation.

  
  

By understanding the pattern behind the symptoms, treatment can be tailored to each person rather than just suppressing reactions.

🌸 Acupuncture for Sinus-Related Headaches

Sinus congestion doesn’t just block the nose, it can also trigger headaches, often felt as a heavy pressure behind the eyes, across the forehead, or in the cheekbones.

Inflammation and blocked sinus drainage increase pressure in the head, which can become worse when lying down or during seasonal flare-ups.

Acupuncture has been shown to reduce this pressure by improving circulation, decreasing local inflammation, and stimulating the body’s natural ability to drain the sinuses.

Points on the face, head, and hands can quickly relieve congestion, while auriculotherapy supports overall regulation of the immune and nervous systems.

From a neuroscience perspective, acupuncture may influence the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensations from the face and sinuses to the brain.

By stimulating specific points, acupuncture can modulate pain signals along this pathway and reduce the perception of sinus-related pain.

It also engages the endogenous opioid system, the body’s natural pain-relief mechanism, helping to ease discomfort without medication.

Many patients notice that not only do their headaches ease during treatment, but the frequency and intensity of sinus-related headaches lessen over time, leading to better sleep, clearer focus, and more energy during the day.

🌿 My Approach in Practice

Over the years, I have seen many patients struggling with hay fever or sinus-related coughs.

For some, it’s the itchy, watery eyes and sneezing every spring; for others, it’s the lingering cough and mucus after every cold.

• 🌱 Several women and men with chronic sinusitis came to me with severe sinus pressure, blocked noses, and constant antihistamine use.

  After a series of acupuncture and auriculotherapy sessions, they noticed not only clearer breathing but also far less eye itching and sneezing during pollen season.

  
  

  Many also reported a reduction in sinus-related headaches, which often eased as congestion improved. As a result, they were able to sleep more deeply, breathe more freely, and feel less fatigued and more energized during the day.

  
  

• 🌿 Children brought by their parents often suffered from lingering coughs and blocked noses after every cold.

  With gentle acupressure, dietary advice, and light auriculotherapy, their symptoms improved noticeably, which brought great relief to the whole family.

• Adults under high stress sometimes experience flare-ups of hay fever or stubborn throat phlegm. Treatment helped reduce both their allergy symptoms and their overall tension, so they felt calmer as well as clearer in their breathing.

What I love most is that patients often report feeling stronger overall, better energy, better sleep, and fewer seasonal flare-ups.

References

1. Brinkhaus, B., et al. (2004). Acupuncture in patients with allergic rhinitis: a randomized trial. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

2. Xue, C. C., et al. (2007). Acupuncture for persistent allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled trial. Medical Journal of Australia.

3. Zhang, C. S., et al. (2018). Ear-acupuncture (auriculotherapy) for allergic rhinitis: A systematic review. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

4. Maciocia, G. (2005). The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Churchill Livingstone.

5. Kaptchuk, T. J. (2000). The Web That Has No Weaver. McGraw-Hill.

6. Mechanisms of acupuncture–electroacupuncture on inflammatory pain. Qingxiang Zhang, Mengmeng Zhou, Mingzhu Huo, et al. (2023).

7. Local and Systemic Analgesic Effects of Nerve-Specific Acupuncture in Healthy Adults, Measured by Quantitative Sensory Testing” (Pain Medicine).

8. Acupuncture-Induced Analgesia: The Role of Microglial Inhibition (Lin, Skakavac, Lin, etc.).

9. Improvement in inflammation and airway remodelling after acupuncture at BL13 and ST36 in a mouse model of chronic asthma (2019, Nurwati)