Treatments
Three methods for treating allergies are avoidance, medications, and immunotherapy.
Avoidance of things to which you are allergic is the most logical way to control your symptoms, and is most useful for some animal and food allergies. Avoidance is not particularly helpful for allergies to pollens, mold, dust, and stinging insects. Unfortunately, avoidance is often relative and not absolute, for it is difficult to avoid Grandmother’s cat! Please check out how you can minimize your exposure to your allergy triggers
The second approach includes medications which are available in several forms. The most commonly used are the antihistamines. There are many different types available at your pharmacy which can be purchased without a prescription. The first-generation antihistamines, such as benadryl, can be very effective but may cause sedation issues and need to be dosed several times a day. The second generation antihistamines, such as Zyrtec and Claritin, can also be effective in control hay fever symptoms. The main advantage of the second generation antihistamines over the first generation are longer lasting and less side effects. Finally, antihistamines are also available in nasal spray form. Their main advantage is the ability to concentrate more of the medication in the nasal cavities. Keep in mind, antihistamines are typically used to treat NASAL and SKIN ALLERGIES. However, they are not effective and should not be used to treat chest allergies (i.e. ASTHMA).
The other large group of allergy medications are referred to as the anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory medications come in several forms: oral, intranasal, inhaled or topical. Depending on the severity and the type of symptoms you are experiencing, not all types of anti-inflammatories will be appropriate for you. The medications included in this group of medications include the nasal and inhaled steroids, the leukotriene inhibitors (e.g. Singulair), oral steroids (e.g. prednisone) and the monoclonal antibodies (e.g. Xolair).
The third approach is immunotherapy, or allergy shots, which is the most definitive and long-term solution to treating allergic disease. Immunotherapy is reserved for patients in whom avoidance and medications have not proven effective, or in patients who experience unacceptable side effects to medications. Studies have shown that, in the properly chosen patient, immunotherapy is effective in 94% of the cases, with patients describing significant and substantial improvement within six to eight months of starting therapy.
