Until she learnt about natural remedies for allergies, soaking up sunshine in the park was never an option for Karen Russ. "I had hay fever so I was allergic to grass, trees, pollen. You name it, I was allergic to it. I used to walk around with a box of tissues," says Karen Russ.

For years Karen Russ relied heavily on medication to ease her allergy symptoms. "I used to go for allergy shots, I would go once a month and during allergy season I would not only have to get shots but I would have to take Claritin."

"There are definite advantages to using natural remedies for allergies. The problem comes when people have chronic allergies and need to be on medications all the time, and that's where utilizing a healthy and integrative approach becomes much more important," explains Dr. Woodson Merrell is executive director of the Center for Health and Healing at Beth Israel Medical Center.

More and more research is confirming the value of herbs and other homeopathic remedies as viable treatment alternatives to prescription drugs and over-the-counter anti-histamines which can cause side effects such as drowsiness, dry mouth and nausea.

"Acupuncture and diet alone have enabled me to reduce or eliminate the medications," says Dr. Merrell.

In addition to acupuncture, specific herbs like Perrilla and Nettles have helped Dr. Merrell's patients.

"The herbs have anti-histamine-like properties but are much gentler, much less side effects and if you use over the period of a few days you begin to build up a level of resistance to the allergies," says Dr. Merrell.

Karen has turned to acupuncture for relief and says she can't imagine surviving allergy season without it.

"Natural remedies for allergies have changed my life. I used to be a prisoner to tissues and my eyes used to get red and watery. I don't have that anymore," says Karen.

Dr. Merrell explains that for some patients a combination of alternative treatments and medication may be appropriate. However, before integrating herbs and other natural remedies for allergies you must consult with your physician to avoid any dangerous drug-herb interactions.

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