What is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a preventative treatment for allergies, where the patient is exposed to allergy triggers (e.g., pollen, dust, mold) without triggering symptoms by “building up” your immunity.
It is the only scientifically proven method to control allergies long term or potentially “cure” allergic rhinitis. Immunotherapy is the gold standard recommendation for those who cannot avoid their allergy triggers, have problems managing their allergies, or do not like taking medications. Each dose has a small amount of allergens that have been formulated specifically for you. Eventually the allergens are increased, allowing your body to get “used to” the exposure over time.
Our office offers two types of immunotherapy: shots and drops. Although we offer in-office administration of allergy shots, both modalities may also be taken at home. We’ve been administering home immunotherapy safely since 2001. Our program is designed to educate you at your own pace so you have the confidence to perform your own immunotherapy correctly. We will instruct you on safety and on handling any side effects or potential emergencies. Once trained, you would only have to return to the office every 2–3 months for a higher concentration of serum rather than visit our office once or even twice a week like other clinics.
Unlike many programs (especially dedicated “allergy clinics”), we do not believe in maintenance dosing which lasts forever. We go for a “cure” in that once you’ve completed your regimen we simply wean or stop the shots.
