As Covid cases climb, it’s time to look after your immune system
With all the gloomy news around relating to the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine, and the economic impacts of Brexit and the pandemic, it’s possible that you may have missed the trend over the last month or so of rising Covid cases.
Perhaps it’s a measure of how far we’ve all come psychologically and emotionally over the last two years that news of a 60-fold rise in infections compared to this time last year has barely made a ripple in the media landscape.
For many people now testing positive (if they bother to test at all) Covid has assumed the wearisome inconvenience that we might associate with a heavy cold – but it’s worth remembering that for vulnerable people the virus remains a health threat.
It’s a good reminder that whilst the majority of us are quite happy – in fact, determined – to get on with the business of ‘living with Covid’, the virus is still unpleasant, still represents a risk, and it’s better to avoid catching it at all if possible.
The same goes for any of the unpleasant viruses that are part and parcel of contemporary life.
But in order to have the best chance of keeping well and avoiding becoming infected by Covid, or any one of the many other viruses that we might catch, it pays to do everything we can to protect and look after our immune system.
Why is it important to look after your immune system?
We often think of our immune system as being an ‘internal’ function – sort of like an invisible force-field of cells that charge into battle with any pathogen that manages to sneak through.
And whilst that’s true to an extent. It’s also true that every part of your body contains those cells – so your skin, nasal hairs, mucus membranes, eyelashes and eyelids, fingernails, toenails, and so on, are all part of your natural defence against illness.
Keeping well isn’t just about feeding yourself orange juice or vitamins – though this can certainly help – it’s also about prioritising your body’s overall health to maintain its effectiveness
The healthier your immune system, the more resilient you are, and the more able your body is to repel unwanted bacteria and viruses that get in the way of living life. And even if you don’t manage to completely avoid becoming ill, a healthy immune system will help you to recover and get back to normal more quickly.
There are some simple steps you can take on your own to look after your immune defence – healthy diet, exercise, and good sleep are all known to strengthen your body’s natural defences and keep you as healthy as possible.
But acupuncture is also an extremely effective way of giving your body the support it needs to keep you feeling well and happy.
How does acupuncture help to strengthen and protect the immune system?
One of the biggest benefits of acupuncture as a therapy to improve your health resilience is its ability to reduce stress, which is one of the most significant factors in poor autoimmunity.
Through the painless insertion of superfine needles into the skin at strategic points on the body, acupuncture stimulates the inner healing energy called qi that we all possess, restoring balance and order to our physiology.
In turn, this increases and accelerates the production of red and white blood cells, and T-cells which develop from stem cells in the bone marrow and are a key defence for conditions such as cancer.
And by encouraging these cells to reproduce more effectively, acupuncture also enhances the immunity of those with immune-related illnesses.
Calming an overactive immune system
Acupuncture can also help to calm your immune system when it finds itself in overdrive.
An over-sensitive immune system is almost as dangerous as one that stops working, because it reacts indiscriminately to any threat, leaving the body unable to tell the difference between normal healthy cells and invaders.
This hypersensitivity can lead to immune disorders, but acupuncture can be targeted to dial down the white noise of a hyperactive immune system and allow the body to respond naturally to the daily risks it encounters.
Western medicine is often symptom-led and focuses on symptom-suppression rather than the treatment of the root cause of a condition.
Acupuncture is a holistic treatment that zeroes in on supporting you to achieve effective and long-lasting wellness, reducing symptoms, accelerating healing, and regulating the immune response system through better cell communication.
If you’d like to learn more about our acupuncture for a healthy immune system, please get in touch for an informal, friendly chat – I’d love to hear from you.