Are Allergy Injections Good for Patients?

What are allergy injections? Often times, medications do not control or alleviate allergy symptoms, so an allergist may suggest the patients try allergy shots or immunotherapy. This involves a series of injections that contain a small portion of the substance with which the patient is allergic. For many patients, the symptoms resolve completely. These types of shots work best for allergies that affect the nose and eyes, asthma, and insect sting allergies. Approved by the FDA and given for nearly 100 years, many studies have shown that the benefit of allergy shots is worth the time and length of treatments.

Allergy injections can be a very beneficial treatment for people suffering from chronic allergy problems. There are many reasons to consider allergy shots. If you still have symptoms of allergies, despite trying many different allergy medications then this may be the only solution to helping stop allergy symptoms. Many patients believe that allergy shots are the "cure" and choose the shots for this reason. Allergy shots are not for the treatment of symptoms, but actually are used to go to the source of the problem and fix the immune system. The body treats the injection like a vaccine and causes the body to produce infection-fighting antibodies that fight against pollen, dust, mold or pet dander. When people are exposed to these allergens in the future, the body stops producing the allergies, and the patient doesn't have the symptoms or don't have them as badly.

Those who experience severe side effects from medications don't like to take medications every day, find the idea of a weekly or monthly shot very appealing. Finally, medications can become expensive and really only treat the symptoms, requiring treatment for many years. Allergy shots reduce the need for medications and can save lots of money in the long run.

The allergy injections are given by starting with a small amount of the allergen, making sure its not enough to cause an allergic reaction. With each injection, the dose is increased until the patient can tolerate large amounts of the allergen. These injections are usually given once or twice a week until a constant dose is achieved. This is usually achieved within 3 to 6 months. Once symptoms have resolved when a patient is exposed to the allergen, injections are given every two to four weeks.

Are these injections good for patients? Yes, they definitely can be, showing improvement in patients 80-90% of the time. There are some side effects. The patient could have an allergic reaction to the shot. Most who experience an allergic reaction have mild to moderate itching at the site of the injection. Less common are whole body reactions which can cause shortness of breath, tightness in the chest, cough, or wheezing. Rarely are these treatments life threatening. The treatment regimen usually last for three to five years and those looking for the "quick fix" generally prefer to choose over-the-counter medications. Most people who have tried allergy injections believe it is the cure, but really, allergy injections are used to significantly lower allergy symptoms. For those people who suffer from severe allergies, this is definitely a treatment worth trying.