Allergy Testing and Treatment

Allergy Testing

We test for 38 different allergens – weeds, grasses, trees, dust mites, molds, cat, dog and cockroach.  We do a combination of 2 different types of test. A prick puncture technique (applied on the upper back) and intradermal dilutional testing (applied on the upper arms). The testing takes approximately 2 - 2 ½ hours. A lot of this time is utilized for patient education. We will go over in detail what you can do to decrease environmental allergen exposure.

Treatment – Injections or Drops for environmental allergens

Injections - The testing gives us the information needed to make up your allergy treatment mixture for environmental allergens. We customize treatment sets based on your degree of sensitivity to each allergen. Injecting you with these allergens stimulates your body to produce blocking antibodies to those allergens. If you choose to go on allergy injections, you will be required to come to our office for the administration of the injections with a 20-30 minute waiting time after the injection. If you are going to have a reaction, there is a 97% incidence it will occur in 20-30 min.

Drops - Our office has sublingual (under the tongue) treatment available. Sublingual drops are not approved by the FDA, therefore, they are not covered by insurance. They are administered daily at home. If you have an interest in this treatment option, we will be able to answer any questions.

EpiPen

An EpiPen is a medical device used to treat severe allergic reactions. It is required that you carry an EpiPen and Benadryl on the day of your allergy injection for as long as you are taking allergy injections. You will be instructed how and when to use the EpiPen at your first allergy injection appointment. It is also required that an EpiPen is available if you choose to go on sublingual therapy.

Time Commitment

Allergy immunotherapy shots improve symptoms in 85-90% of patients. If the allergy injections or drops are benefiting you, it is recommended that you remain on the treatment for a minimum of 3-5 years. When you stop your treatment, your blocking antibodies should remain elevated and provide benefit for 5-7 years. Allergies are not curable, so there is a chance that your symptoms could return and possibly may need to be retested and go back on treatment. Allergy injections will be weekly for 1-2 years, our goal is for the patient to go 2-3 weeks between injections. Some patients choose to remain on allergy injections indefinitely, taking 1 shot every 2-3 weeks so they don’t ever get to the point of having symptoms again. There are no long term side effects for being on allergy injections.

Preparation for testing

You will be given a Preparation for Allergy Testing information sheet, as well as a history form, which need to be completed and returned on the day of testing. Once testing is completed, you may resume taking your antihistamines. The goal of allergy injections is to decrease the amount of daily medications you are currently taking. Some patients start to notice improvement in symptoms within 3 months.

Insurance

Our office will verify allergy benefits with your insurance company. We will attempt to give you an estimate of the approximate out-of-pocket expenses for allergy testing, allergy serum, and allergy injections. This is not a guarantee of payment. We encourage all patients to verify benefits also. Once these benefits are obtained, the allergy department will call to answer any questions and schedule an appointment for allergy testing.