Working forty hours a week is a given. Clocking more than forty hours a week is an unwritten rule software engineers adhere to religiously across the globe. Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, is no exception. Alia, a 28-year-old software engineer, had no other choice than to accept the gruelling reality.
The whistling pressure cooker, each morning, became a constant reminder. She had to be at the workplace 8 o’ clock. So, she had time only to cook simple chawal and dhal for lunch. Breakfast? It was fast food every day, during the coffee break at work. An unhealthy option that led to health issues.
Alia was famous in her office. Not for anything work related. It was health related. She was known as the hutchhhhhh woman on the floor. Her constant sneezing would not only irritate her to her wits’ end, but almost everyone around. The day she was absent, it would become a topic of conversation.
Suggestions and advices from her colleagues flooded her. Several home remedies offered no relief. An immunology and allergy specialist prescribed anti-histamine drug. It made her drowsy, clouded her thinking, and made her unproductive at work.
Work pressure and sneezing were the two constant companions in her otherwise robotic life.
The health condition she battled each morning was diagnosed as Allergic Rhinitis. Runny nose, red, itchy, watery and swollen eyelids, post nasal dripping and continuous sneezing are all the symptoms of Allergic Rhinitis. Known also as Hay Fever, it affects 20 percentile of general population. Two thirds of which develop before the age of 30.
Frequent episodes of nasal congestions made her irritable. Although she would find succour in nasal sprays, her health seldom improved. She would return home totally exhausted. Only to wake up to another day of sneezing and battling runny nose etc.
She had exhausted all sorts of medicines too. As a last resort, she tried Ayurvedic treatment at Ayurvedism, R T Nagar. Three months of intensive Ayurvedic treatment worked wonders. Within a fortnight, there was a remarkable improvement. She was advised to change her food habits and lifestyle as a part of the treatment. She realized that the anti-histamine pills she was taking did more harm to her body. Whereas, Ayurvedic drugs by nature increase a person’s immunity and lowers the susceptibility to allergies.
Ayurveda treatment clears nasal congestion, expels phlegm, and alleviates the relevant dosha and detoxification. This leads to balancing the three doshas present in the human body and treats the disease on the whole. Ayurveda believes in permanently resolving this disorder through dietary and lifestyle adjustments, strengthening the immune system through Panchakarma treatment.
It took just three months to let out the pressure of dealing with a disease like Allergic Rhinitis. Today, Alia continues to work as a software engineer. Free from sneezing. Free from drawing unnecessary attention in office. And free to do what she likes to do. She has finally found calm and peace of mind that was missing in her life for a long time.
