Asthma can be such a challenge for kids to live a normal life particularly when it comes to sports involvement or spending the night at friends’ houses that have pets. Fortunately, there are a lot of natural medicine treatments for asthma. Food sensitivity testing or testing for food allergies can be very important to identify. We can’t always control what is in our environment but we can control our diet. Encountering allergens or things you react to can include both food and environment so the more you get in, the more reactive the airway will be and the less you encounter, the less likely the airway is to react. As we decrease the aggravations, the child can eliminate asthma and the need to medications which is very exciting for the family.
Any Integrative Health Center is likely to see asthma in their pediatric population and our naturopathic doctors are no different. Over 25 million people and their families experience the challenges of asthma contributing to a large number of office visits to the doctor and repeat visits to the doctor, both scheduled and unscheduled. Many have to seek care in urgent cares when treatment is not managing asthma adequately. We have a lot of hope for parents who are looking for alternative medicine or naturopathic medicine options for their pediatric kids with asthma. There are a lot of tools in the functional medicine realm that helps create a holistic treatment approach for our patients.
The holistic doctor’s view of treating the whole body tends to be more successful than just treating the airway which may continue to get worse. This is a functional medicine view of the body as well by working on the immune system response, some thing that is not clearly visible but is working on an unseen level. The immune system is focused on keeping the body safe but if it is confused on whether food is aggravating, it will continue to try to address the problem. Taking the food out for a period of time can allow the immune system to regroup, heal up the lining of the intestines along with make the enzymes that digest and break down the food into digestible molecules to distribute through the body. The largest challenge here is to identify the foods that are causing the aggravation. Food intolerances are often obscure. Sometimes they are not easy to identify since it can take 4 days to have a reaction.
As a naturopathic doctor, I have seen many pediatric patients present with chronic asthma that is reoccurring and after treatment, they have a bag of pharmaceuticals that they no longer need that they have gradually been able to wean off. This is empowering for kids and parents. The basis of treatment again is identifying the food intolerances and food allergies, decrease the inflammatory burden their body is exposed to and balancing the microbiome. There are many botanicals that can be used in the meantime to help relax the airways but addressing the cause is what gives the long lasting results. Don’t underestimate your body’s desire to use natural medicine to heal from asthma.
This is something Dr. Shannyn Fowl is familiar with and has seen in kids and adults alike. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at (619) 772-1164 for a free 10 minute consult to see if we are the right fit for you. Our Naturopathic Medicine Clinic in San Diego, CA welcomes new patients are interested in finding natural options for their healthcare concerns.
Good one. Very informative.