Be like Wesley. Build up your immunity.

 

You might be wondering what on earth The Princess Bride has to do with allergy shots.


I’m glad you asked. Bear with me and see if you can make the connection.

Did you know that allergy shots were first used in 1911?

That’s a long time ago!  Over the last hundred years, mountains of research has been done about allergies and how to best treat them. 

There are three basic ways:

  • avoidance,

  • medications, and

  • desensitization. 

Avoidance is pretty straightforward.  Just talk to anyone allergic to peanuts.  THEY AVOID PEANUTS...or they could have a severe, life-threatening reaction. 

Medications are a great way to treat allergies, but they can be confusing sometimes.  Just check out the allergy aisle at the pharmacy. I’ve posted once on easy and basic way to start managing allergies with medications here and I’ll post more again soon. 

Desensitization is the third way to treat allergies.  Another word used for it is “immunotherapy”.  Basically, immunotherapy is where you are given tiny doses of what you are allergic to, so that your body no longer reacts to it.  For example, if you are allergic to ragweed pollen, we would inject you with a miniscule amount of ragweed every week, very slowly building your immunity to it.  Over time, your body would no longer react to ragweed.  Or that’s the idea.  Immunotherapy is effective about 90% of the time.  But it does take time.  Typically, people see improvement in about a year and usually the therapy is continued for 3-5 years to have a long term effect (for many years afterwards).  

For many years, immunotherapy meant allergy shots.  They weren’t particularly painful because they were injected just under the skin, but still, its a shot.  Most people do just fine with them, but not all.  Over the last twenty years, researchers have found that allergy drops or tablets (placed under the tongue) can also be very effective at reducing reactions. If you are having allergies, there is a lot more to talk about.  Give me a call and we can get you figured out. 

 
 

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Daily Life, NoseErin Shellenbergerallergies, allergy shots, nose