Based on traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is one of the oldest healing practices, but it's still relatively new to Western medicine. By inserting the tip of very thin needles into specific points on the body, acupuncture aims to restore the body's flow of energy, thought to affect a variety of health problems, including how the immune system responds to allergies.

Though there isn't a great deal of research on acupuncture treatment for hay fever, recent studies show some promise. For example, a small study compared adult patients who received weekly acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine with patients who unknowingly had fake acupuncture. It found that the real acupuncture and Chinese-herb patients noticed that the severity of their hay fever was significantly less pronounced and that their quality of life was significantly improved. And in another small study of children who were treated twice a week with real vs. sham acupuncture for seasonal allergy symptoms, the children who received the real treatment had fewer symptoms.