There are a number of treatment options available for allergies at allergy centers to alleviate the harsh symptoms. One of the newer options of treatment is known as immunotherapy. Here is everything you need to know about allergy immunotherapy.

What Is Allergy Immunotherapy?

Allergy immunotherapy, also known commonly as allergy shots, are a series of injections which can be used to alleviate your allergies and the reoccurring symptoms. The purpose of immunotherapy is to develop your immune system against these allergies. You will have to be injected with a small amount of allergen in order for the body to form antibodies against the allergens.

Allergy shots don’t necessarily get rid of allergies. It is more like a feeling of getting used to the symptoms of your allergies. Once you get allergy shots, there is no guarantee that you will not get allergic ever again, but it simply means that your immune system is working in your favor and the effects if the allergic reactions will be very sparse. It is not considered as a treatment, per say, but it is more like getting your body accustomed to the symptoms so that nothing lethal or dangerous happens to you.

Regardless, allergy shots are considered as the best option for long term treatment and a lot of people don’t even feel symptoms of allergies afterwards. Sometimes, the allergies can get diminished, but every person is different and it can vary for different people.

Effects Of Allergy Immunotherapy

As mentioned above, allergy immunotherapy is a great way to develop antibodies in your body to make the symptoms a lot more bearable. It does work most of the time and people react well to the shots. For allergy shots, you need to have a proper diagnosis of what type of allergy you are suffering from, otherwise the whole point of allergy shots will be useless.

The diagnosis needs to be accurate so that the proper allergen can be used to make antibodies in your immune system. Once you have the diagnosis right, the rest of the ride is a piece of cake.

Does It Work?

Yes, allergy shots do work in most of the cases, almost 98% of the cases, the results are promising and successful. So much so, that people don’t even feel the allergies coming anymore. Of course, this varies from person to person, because everyone is different and there are different tolerance levels in different people and how they react with allergies is different too. Allergy shots are great for people who don’t feel any relief from medication. You can most certainly go for this option as long as the doctor gives you the go ahead.

What To Expect Before And After Allergy Immunotherapy?

Now that you know most of the things about allergy shots, here is what you should expect before and after allergy shots. Let’s talk about the pre allergy shot precautions.

• You need to stop exercising 2 hours before getting your shots. This can mess up the blood tissues in your stream and the shots might not settle well.
• You can’t do anything strenuous for the same reason mentioned above.
• You will need to stop taking medications like blood thinners, supplements, etc. before the shots.
• You can’t consume alcohol, tobacco or other drugs before the shots. Your blood stream needs to be clean from any drug.

Here is what you should expect after the shot has been administered.

• You will be monitored for the next 39 minutes or up to an hour to make sure no physical reaction occurs which could get out of hand.
• You should expect some redness, swelling and soreness after the shots. This is completely normal and this is the sign that your body is making antibodies in your immune system so you need to hold on for a little bit. These symptoms go away after about 4 to 6 hours.

Conclusion

There you have it! Allergy shots or immunotherapy have become very popular among people for the treatment of allergies and the results are quite promising. You can see for yourself if you are allergic and want to go for immunotherapy. You should get advice from an allergy specialist Germantown also to know if immunotherapy is the best treatment option for you.