Do you have to constantly follow your child around with a tissue to get them to blow their nose? Are they struggling with a stuffy or always runny nose that they have difficulty sleeping through the night? Have they lost their sense of smell and are having trouble eating enough food or healthy food because they can't taste properly? Do they have a trail of snot on their face in every family photo? If so, it's time to make some changes to support your child's health. The first thing you can do is make changes at home that will help your child breathe more easily. First, invest in a high quality air purifier (or two) and run it constantly in your child's bedroom and any other room that they tend to do activities in (maybe a play area, living room, or kitchen area). This will reduce the environmental triggers that may be causing or aggravating the problem. Second, remove or greatly reduce foods in their diet that create mucus -- these include dairy, sugar, rich fatty foods, and fried foods. Third, begin daily nasal rinsing to clear the mucus out of the nose. If these three practices don't solve the problem thoroughly enough, have your child see a pediatric acupuncturist and herbalist. Pediatric acupuncture can be used to:

• Directly stimulate acupuncture points that enable the sinuses to drain
• Reduce overall inflammation in the body
• Increase immune system function so that your child gets fewer opportunistic infections

Herbal therapy is also very useful for nasal congestion. There are high quality herbs that reduce nasal congestion by promoting mucus drainage. These herbs should be used regularly until the problem is fully resolved. Do you have questions about how to resolve your child's nasal congestion? Please contact me for more information about how acupuncture and herbal therapy can help your child. Here's to your child's health!