Allergy
Immunotherapy
Also Known as Allergy Shots
If you suffer from
severe allergies and allergy medications do not work well for you,
you may be asked to try allergy shots or (allergy immunotherapy).
While not intended to cure allergy symptoms, allergy immunotherapy
is designed to lessen your sensitivity to the substances you are
allergic to.
In some ways, allergy
shots are similar to flu shots. When you receive a flu shot, dead
pieces of the flu virus are injected into your body. Your immune
system detects the virus particles and creates cells to protect
your body from the flu virus in the future. Likewise, allergy immunotherapy
involves injecting your body with allergens, or particles of substances
to which you are allergic. Over time, it is presumed that your immune
system will become less sensitive to these allergens, which would
lessen your allergy symptoms.
Sounds easy, right?
Sadly, allergy immunotherapy is not as simple as it seems on the
surface. There are several drawbacks to allergy immunotherapy, the
most obvious being the needle factor. In order to be effective,
allergy shots must be given in the upper arm with gradually increasing
doses. This means you would need allergy shots once or twice a week
for several months, and then once or twice a month for up to 5 years.
Few people—especially children—are able to cope with
receiving shots on such a consistent, long-term basis, with no guarantee
of success.
Another drawback
for allergy immunotherapy is the possibility of adverse reactions.
After a patient receives allergy shots, it’s required that
he or she remain in the doctor’s office for about half an
hour—especially if the patient is a child. During a severe
reaction to allergy immunotherapy, called anaphylaxis, the patient
may experience swollen lips and tongue, hives, difficulty breathing,
nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and eventually unresponsiveness.
Even if allergy
shots begin to work, allergy immunotherapy is not a cure for allergies.
On the contrary, allergy immunotherapy is one of several concurrent
methods that people try to reduce the symptoms of allergies. Allergy
immunotherapy always must be used in conjunction with allergen avoidance,
allergy medications, and other allergy control products.
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