For the First Time in His Life, He Rolled in the Grass
Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, CO
Case 003 | Series Post #3
He Had Never Done the Thing Every Kid Does
Most kids roll in the grass without thinking about it. It’s just what you do on a summer afternoon.
He had never been able to do that. Not once — well, he did once and paid dearly for it.
Grass meant an asthmatic attack. Every single time. He had built his entire outdoor life around avoiding it.
The Boy Who Dreaded His Own Chores
He was 15. Multiple environmental allergies, a long history of asthma, and one specific trigger he could count on like clockwork: grass.
Mowing the lawn was his weekly chore. And every single week, it put him in an asthmatic attack. He had tried over-the-counter medication. He had tried wrapping a damp bandana around his mouth and nose while mowing. Neither one helped.
He couldn’t play in or around grass without sparking a reaction. Sports were a negotiation. Outside time was a calculation. He was 15 years old and already managing a life built around one unavoidable allergen.
His parents brought him in for evaluation. Testing revealed multiple sensitivities in addition to grass. We began working through the foundational NAET protocol before addressing the environmental allergens specifically — grass, weeds, and pollen among them.
He Didn’t Just Tolerate the Grass. He Rolled in It.
Following treatment for grass and phenolics, he came back with a report I wasn’t expecting in its specifics.
He had been outside. He had played in the grass. Not cautiously near it — in it. Rolling in it.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was in the grass without an asthmatic attack.
He wasn’t just managing exposure. He was doing the thing he had never been able to do.
Another young patient whose skin didn’t condition clear in four treatments – case 007.
Grass Wasn’t the Only Thing His Body Had Flagged as Dangerous
Initial assessment identified multiple environmental sensitivities — grass was prominent, but not isolated. The body’s reactivity was broader than any single allergen.
In NAET, we address sensitivities systematically, working through foundational substances first before targeting specific environmental triggers. Phenolics — organic compounds found throughout the plant world — are often a component of grass-related reactivity and were part of his treatment protocol.
The body had apparently been responding to a complex of signals associated with grass exposure. When those signals were addressed, the response shifted.
Patient-Reported: A Chore Became Just a Chore
He reported that following treatment for grass and phenolics, he experienced no asthmatic attack during grass exposure — including rolling in the grass, which had been impossible before.
His parents reported the same observation. The chore he had dreaded became something he could simply do. He still didn’t like doing it.
He was 15. He got his summer back.
When the Immune System Learns to React, It Can Also Learn to Stop
Grass sensitization in young people with asthma is well-documented. Research in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology has confirmed that allergen sensitization — including grass pollen — combined with high exposure increases airway inflammation and adversely impacts asthma control in children.[1] The conventional response is avoidance and medication management.
But the immune response to allergens is not fixed. Research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has established that neurons and immune cells share the same tissue spaces and communicate in constant, bidirectional loops — neuropeptides and neurotransmitters from the nervous system directly regulate immune cell behavior.[2] The allergic response isn’t purely chemical. It’s a learned pattern encoded in a system that can also unlearn.
Here is the question worth sitting with: if a 15-year-old can spend his entire outdoor life unable to touch grass — and then one day roll in it — what does that tell us about where the real ceiling of the body’s limitation actually is?
The Ceiling Isn’t Always Where We Think It Is
His family came in looking for some relief from a long-standing problem. What they found was that the problem wasn’t as fixed as it had appeared.
A different allergen, same principle – the animal allergy that resolved in case 002.
If you have a child who manages asthma or allergies around outdoor triggers — and that child has never been able to simply play outside — that’s a conversation worth having.
The ceiling may be lower than it needs to be.
— Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, Colorado
To learn more about NAET at Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies, visit laserchirorockies.com or call 970-412-3212.
Individual results vary. This story is de-identified and shared with permission. It represents a reported patient experience and is not a guarantee of outcome. NAET is a complementary wellness approach and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition.
[1] Custovic, A. et al. “Environmental Influences on Childhood Asthma: Allergens.” Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2023;34(2):e13915. PMID: 36825741. DOI: 10.1111/pai.13915
[2] Veiga-Fernandes, H. & Artis, D. “Neuro-Immune Crosstalk and Allergic Inflammation.” J Clin Invest. 2019;129(4):1475-1482. PMC: PMC6436850. DOI: 10.1172/JCI124609