She Came In for Her Sinuses. But Her Body Had Other Plans.
Dr. John Erickson, DC | Laser & Chiropractic Center of the Rockies | Loveland, CO
Case 010 | Series Post #10
She Couldn’t Remember a Time Without It
Post-nasal drip. It had been there as long as she could remember. She tried to think of when it had started and couldn’t – it had simply always been part of her life.
She had tried every conceivable allergy treatment available. None of it had moved the drip. She had made a kind of peace with it – if you call peace meaning that you’re okay with occasionally dripping on things or having to use the sleeve of your shirt to mop up your nose.
What she hadn’t expected was what else was going to change.
A Woman Who Had Tried Everything and Knew It
She was 64. Lifelong chronic post-nasal drip. Persistent headaches and dizziness alongside it. She had tried the full spectrum of available allergy treatments without meaningful relief.
She was leery of allergy shots. She was concerned about the side effects and what she called the “dependency” that medication could create. She wanted something that might work without adding more chemistry to the equation.
She came in having exhausted her other options. Testing revealed she was sensitive to multiple allergens. We began working through the foundational Basic 17 NAET treatments.
By the Sixth Treatment, the Drip Was Gone
Within the first six Basic treatments, the post-nasal drip she had carried her entire life was gone.
Not reduced. Not better. Gone. And she was sleeping better than she could remember.
By the tenth treatment, the persistent headaches and dizziness that had accompanied the post-nasal drip for years were also gone.
And then she mentioned something else. Her Irritable Bowel Syndrome wasn’t bothering her anymore. The frequency of bathroom use that had been a chronic inconvenience had become unremarkable.
She had come in for her sinuses. Three separate systems had responded.
One Immune Load, Multiple Expressions
Assessment revealed a pattern of sensitivities that, while expressing most visibly as post-nasal drip, was affecting multiple systems simultaneously. In NAET, we recognize that the same underlying immune reactivity burden can show up in different places in different people – sinus mucosa, gut lining, and neurological regulation of digestive function are all within reach of a sustained systemic reactive state.
The gut-immune-nervous system connection is well-established. The enteric nervous system – the nervous system of the gut – communicates directly with the central nervous system and with immune cells throughout the digestive tract. When immune reactivity is reduced, the gut often responds.
She had not come in for IBS. Her IBS resolved anyway.
Patient-Reported: Three Systems Quieted
She reported that within the first six Basic treatments, the lifelong post-nasal drip resolved and her sleep quality improved significantly.
By the tenth treatment, she reported that both the persistent headaches and dizziness were gone.
With continued treatment, she reported that her IBS symptoms improved and the frequency of bathroom urgency – a chronic feature of her daily life – decreased substantially.
The Body Doesn’t File Problems in Separate Folders
The nervous and immune systems regulate each other across every system in the body – not just the sinuses, not just the gut, not just the neurological. Research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has confirmed that neurons and immune cells are physically colocalized throughout tissues, communicating in real time via neuropeptides and neurotransmitters.[1] An immune reactivity pattern doesn’t stay in one department.
Research in the Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology has documented that chronic stress-related immune activation produces effects across multiple organ systems – not confined to the primary symptom presentation.[2] The sinus is where the allergy shows up. That doesn’t mean it’s where the allergy lives.
If the sinuses and the gut and the headaches are all connected to the same underlying immune activation – what happens when you address the activation instead of each symptom separately?
She Was Amazed at What Clearing Allergies Can Do for the Whole Body
That is her phrase, not mine. She said it on her way out after one of her follow-up appointments. She hadn’t come in expecting what happened. She left understanding something she hadn’t before.
The body is not a collection of isolated problems. It is a system. What you address in one part can ripple through others in ways that are hard to predict – and sometimes remarkable to witness.
If you have been managing separate symptoms in separate boxes – sinuses here, gut there, headaches elsewhere – it may be worth asking whether they share a common thread.
— 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] 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
[2] Montoro, J. et al. “Stress and Allergy.” J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2009;19 Suppl 1:40-47. PMID: 19476053.