We’ve all seen the commercial with the pesky yellowish green creature sneaking up on poor unsuspecting souls and preventing them from going on with their day. Allergy season definitely sees our bodies producing more mucus as we attempt to fight off the various allergens we breathe in. Dr. Lauryn dishes on the purpose and benefits mucus provides here:
The Life Cycle of an Allergen
As with any living thing, allergens have a kind of life cycle they seem to follow starting with us breathing in whatever irritant we may encounter such as dust mites, pollen, or pet hair and dander. Once these allergens enter our body our passageways – sinuses, airways, lungs, etc – become inflamed and irritated.
To combat this irritation our body creates mucus. Yep, you heard us right, that sticky, slimy, gunky stuff actually plays a key role in keeping our bodies healthy. Mucus keeps our membranes moist so they don’t get damaged while trapping the unwanted bacteria and carrying important antibodies to naturally kill off our the allergens invading our body.
When our body’s plumbing is working correctly, this cycle allows mucus to properly carry the allergen out of our body. When our plumbing is on the fritz though, watch out!
Our Body’s Plumbing System
When the mucus, that has trapped the harmful bacteria gets stuck thanks to inflamed airways head colds, sinus and ear infections most likely will follow. Many times we believe these come about because our body has created too much mucus when in reality our body has just trapped the mucus inside.
This trapped mucus continues to collect and pressure builds up, causing the pain we feel with sinus infections, head colds, and ear infections. In order to relieve this pain, we need to address the plumbing blockage our body is experiencing.
A healthy upper spine, including our neck, is a great place to start. Having your neck properly aligned provides you with a solid foundation for a properly functioning drainage system for the rest of your body.
Have more questions on the role mucus and our body’s plumbing plays in combating allergies? Join us for our FREE Allergy and Sinus Workshop webinar Wednesday, April 24th at 1 pm.
