Do Allergy Shots Help in Reducing the Allergy Symptoms?

October 25, 2009 by mbelcher · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Diseases And Conditions 
Itchiness, watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and redness are some of the common symptoms that majority of the people experiences as allergy symptoms.

The most effective way to fight against particular allergen is immunotherapy or allergy shot, but some people will get frightened to get allergy shot.

Allergy shots hold a little amount of substance that fights against the particular allergen. For example, if the person is allergic to pollen, a small amount of substance called pollen will be added to the shot.

A small amount will be given so that the body will get used to fight against the allergen and if the body comes in contact with that substance next time, body will be familiar with that.

Who are not eligible to take allergy shot?

Allergy shots are not safe for everyone. Although most of the people experienced positive results from these shots, they are not suitable for all. People who are suffering from asthma, heart attack, and respiratory problems, pregnant women, and children under age of five are not recommended to receive allergy shot.

Alternatively, certain individuals are experiencing some side effects such as:

• Feelings of shock when the shot is initially injected

• Lightheadedness

• Nausea

So, for these reasons, the patient should stay in the doctor’s office for at least fifteen to twenty minutes after receiving the shot.

Benefits of allergy shots:

• Allergy shots improve allergic rhinitis, hay fever, bee sting allergies, drug allergies, and eye allergies.

• In some cases, allergy shots improve asthma symptoms also. The most common reaction to allergy shot is swelling at the place where the shot is given.

The success of this immunotherapy varies from person to person depending on the severity of the person’s allergy and the number of substances the person is allergic to.

In addition to the traditional allergy shots, there are new approaches to immunotherapy procedures to treat allergies.

Oral immunotherapy works similar to the allergy shot. In this method, increasing doses of allergen will be given to slowly build up the patient’s tolerance. The only difference with oral immunotherapy from allergy shot is with oral immunotherapy extract of allergen is used as drops. In this method, generally the drops are placed under the tongue and then swallowed.

Intranasal immunotherapy method involves intranasal administration of grass and house dust mite allergen extracts, which reduces the nasal symptoms such as “nasal allergy”.

The side effect with intranasal immunotherapy is nasal irritation. When compared to the traditional allergy shots, intranasal immunotherapy has no long lasting benefits.

Rush immunotherapy involves quick build up to the maintenance dose of extract. In this method of treatment, during early phase increasing doses of allergen will be given every few hours rather than a few days. Since there is a great risk involved with this rush immunotherapy, this should be done in hospital under close supervision.

Some people will experience severe reaction to the allergy shot, which is called “anaphylaxis”. In case of bad reaction with this shot, physicians will do appropriate treatment to stop this reaction.

Since allergy shots are not good for everyone, talking to the physician before taking this shot is more advisable. Visit Allergy Symptoms



By: Neelima Reddy

About the Author:

Allergy Asthma blog helps you learn everything you need to know about allergy relief. Know more about asthma control & protect yourself to improve your quality of life. Visit http://www.allergyasthmazone.com



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Allergy Relief Products

October 21, 2009 by mbelcher · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Processed Food 
An allergy is an immune system malfunction that causes the body to have a hypersensitive reaction to a normally day-to-day substance. There are different types of allergy; nasal allergy, asthma allergy, food allergy, insect allergy, skin allergy but one may be reacting to only one type or some among all the allergies. One may be allergic to food, pollen, dust, insects, etc. So it is better to first test for the substance causing the allergy.

An allergy test of one form or another is often needed to determine which substance is causing the adverse reaction, if the problem seems to be originating from a food an allergy test may reveal that the individual is not allergic to the suspected food but to a certain element present in the food.

Although there are many allergy testing methods used to determine the presence of allergens, but the three most common allergy testing procedures are skin tests, elimination tests, and the radioallergosorbent test (RAST). It is seen that the accuracy of these tests varies widely and even the same test performed at different times may yield different results. It is also possible for a person to react to a substance during testing but no reaction in normal exposure.

Allergy skin testing is the most used of the three methods but it varies in methodology. With the scratch test a small amount of the suspected allergen is placed on the forearm or upper arm and then introduced under the surface by scratching or pricking. The skin is then observed for swelling or redness. Skin tests are useful in detecting respiratory allergies, penicillin allergy, insect allergies, and food based allergies.

Food allergies are also often investigated via an elimination diet. Suspect foods are removed from the diet for several weeks and then re-introduced one at a time with the person monitoring their reactions. The radioallergosorbent or RAST test is performed in a laboratory and tests for specific amounts of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies that will be present in the blood during a true allergic reaction.

There are many allergy products on the market that relieve you from common allergies and usage of these allergy care products or allergy control products at first sign of allergy will help relieve the symptoms sooner. These allergy relief products are being used as a preventive according to the symptoms found from the allergy tests. Being aware of what each one are will ensure that you choose the medication, which will eliminate your allergy symptoms.

Some of the top allergy relief products on the market are elaborated in the following paragraph.

Nasal sprays are medicinal sprays that help clear nasal passage and soothe dry irritated nasal passages. This spray can be used with cold, allergy, and sinus medications. They are alcohol free and non-medicated, and non-habit forming too.

Nasal strips help relieve nasal congestion due to colds and allergies, in addition to that they also help reduce snoring.

Nasal gels used to relive irritation in the dry nose, these gels soothe the chafed and dry skin of the nose.

Vacuum cleaners and dusters are products that are capable of capturing and removing allergens such as dust mites, and the most allergy causing particles. They are used to clear the dust from our surroundings of the room floor, walls and from furniture that cause allergy.

Air filters are disposable adhesive filters with the inside coated with a liquid adhesive that captures dust particles and lint. Air filters are generally made of metal or various fibers.

Dehumidifiers are special devices to remove moisture from atmosphere to reduce humidity. These devices are very helpful in treatment and controlling of respiratory disorders such as asthma, or bronchial allergies. Many portable dehumidifiers are available in the market.



By: Bryan Morris

About the Author:

Bryan Morris is a medical sales professional and likes doing research works on various types of allergies and their possible cure. He likes to share information about nasal allergy, skin allergy, allergy relief products , Asthma and other stringent allergic conditions.



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