Part 1
Ian Rawlinson L.Ac.
When I first moved to Petaluma in 1986 and opened my acupuncture practice, I couldn’t help noticing the large percentage of my patients who reported suffering from seasonal allergies. Many told me that until they had moved to Sonoma County, they had never experienced this problem. While I found Chinese medicine was very effective in helping many of these patients, some did not respond as well as I would have liked, so I kept my ears open for any additional treatment that could be helpful. In 1993 I heard about the NAET system from a friend who was having very good results from a practitioner in Santa Rosa. Initially, I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about the method. Even though I had been involved with alternative health for many years, the idea of muscle testing was foreign. However my friend was very insistent that the treatments were helping him and so I decided to find out more about it. I attended a lecture, and after a few months decided to have some treatment myself as I had long felt I had a mild allergy to several foods. I found the treatment very effective and decided to study with Dr. Nambudripad, M.D. L.Ac D.C. Ph.D. the founder of the system.
NAET is a system of treatment designed to treat all types of allergies. It combines applied kinesiology, or muscle testing, Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Therapy with concepts taken from acupuncture. Diagnosis and treatment are simple, yet highly effective for treating many different forms of allergies. Dr. Nambudripad named the treatment, or NAET.
What are Allergies?
An allergy is an abnormal response from the body to a substance. Allergens can be inhaled, eaten, or encountered by touch or smell. Normally, antibodies in the blood stream and tissues react to destroy specific antigens. In an allergic person, however, the reaction of the allergen with the antibody leads to a release of chemicals causing inflammation. Different allergens affect different people in different ways causing a wide range of symptoms. These include sneezing, asthma, fatigue, indigestion, nausea, dermatitis, and in extreme cases, anaphylaxis or coma.
Testing For Allergies
Diagnosis using the NAET method is very simple. The patient lies down and holds a vial of the suspected allergy in one hand. The other arm is held at a right angle to the body and the practitioner applies gentle pressure against the arm. If the patient is not allergic to the substance, the arm will remain strong and at a right angle to the body. However, if the patient is allergic to the substance, the arm will become weak and the patient will be unable to resist the pressure that the practitioner is exerting.
To determine which organs are involved, specific acupuncture points on the chest are touched while the muscle test is given. If the arm becomes weak while a particular point is being touched, it indicates that the organ associated with that point is involved with the patient’s allergy. This test determines which acupuncture points on the back are selected for the treatment.
Next weeks blog will explain how a practitioner gives a treatment using NAET.
Ian Rawlinson L.Ac. has practiced Chinese medicine in Petaluma for 24 years.
www.rawlinsonacupuncture.com
