WE are now heading towards the hay fever season and now is the time to gain treatment for your problem before it really gets hold.

Conventional remedies for allergic rhinitis or hay fever include beconase, piriton and terfenadine, which may help but could cause side-effects.

For those who seek alternative treatment, there is acupuncture which can alleviate the symptoms of itchy eyes, runny nose and sinuses, sneezing, coughing and general throat irritation. Homeopathy, used in conjunction with acupuncture, can help control symptoms very well.

Over a period of time, your sensitivity to hay fever will gradually diminish, it may always be present but at manageable levels.

Acupuncture is also used for problems such as arthritis, pain of the spine, shoulder, knee, sciatic, asthma and gynae problems.

No area of medicine is 100 per cent successful, but side-effects of acupuncture are few.

DIANA GROGAN, Strawberry Bank, Blackburn.

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