Sara Langum's dog Dodger used to spend most of his days outside. Sara was allergic to Dodger and dozens of other things. When medication seemed to no longer work, Sara turned to an alternative fix. It's called Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques, based on Chinese medicine. Dr. Ashley Lanman has watched this treatment help many patients.
She says, "It is different. It's something we are not used to but it actually works."
The process sounds crazy, but here's how it works.
The first step is finding out what triggers your allergies.
To figure it out, the patient lies down on a table with one arm in the air.
A vial containing a specific allergen is then placed in the patient's opposite hand.
If the patient is allergic, her arm will go down when the doctor pushes on it, no matter hard she tries to resist; if she's not allergic, she'll be able to resist the push.
The next step is the actual treatment.
The patient holds the allergen in her hand while the doctor uses a machine to stimulate certain pressure points on the body, sort of like a massage.
The patient then continues holding the allergen for 20 minutes.
After the treatment, the patient is told to avoid the allergen for 25 hours.
"It just sounds crazy. It's so bizarre," Langum says.
Lanman says, "There's always doubts, especially when it's unknown, especially when it's strange."
Lanman says just about any allergy can be treated, including tree pollen, grass and even food allergies.
But she admits, this treatment is not meant to replace typical allergy medicine; it's a last resort.
Lanman says, "We are suffering major allergies in Oklahoma. Everyone needs to go to the allergy doctor that needs to, but this is an alternative."
And in Sara's case, where medicine no longer helped, it made life more livable.
There are several doctors in Oklahoma trained to perform these treatments.
She says, "It is different. It's something we are not used to but it actually works."
The process sounds crazy, but here's how it works.
The first step is finding out what triggers your allergies.
To figure it out, the patient lies down on a table with one arm in the air.
A vial containing a specific allergen is then placed in the patient's opposite hand.
If the patient is allergic, her arm will go down when the doctor pushes on it, no matter hard she tries to resist; if she's not allergic, she'll be able to resist the push.
The next step is the actual treatment.
The patient holds the allergen in her hand while the doctor uses a machine to stimulate certain pressure points on the body, sort of like a massage.
The patient then continues holding the allergen for 20 minutes.
After the treatment, the patient is told to avoid the allergen for 25 hours.
"It just sounds crazy. It's so bizarre," Langum says.
Lanman says, "There's always doubts, especially when it's unknown, especially when it's strange."
Lanman says just about any allergy can be treated, including tree pollen, grass and even food allergies.
But she admits, this treatment is not meant to replace typical allergy medicine; it's a last resort.
Lanman says, "We are suffering major allergies in Oklahoma. Everyone needs to go to the allergy doctor that needs to, but this is an alternative."
And in Sara's case, where medicine no longer helped, it made life more livable.
There are several doctors in Oklahoma trained to perform these treatments.
