Warning: DOMDocument::loadHTML(): htmlParseEntityRef: no name in Entity, line: 18 in /home/dev/public_html/wp-content/themes/pru2.0/amp/single.php on line 52
Warning: DOMDocument::loadHTML(): htmlParseEntityRef: no name in Entity, line: 18 in /home/dev/public_html/wp-content/themes/pru2.0/amp/single.php on line 52
The blooms of spring may look beautiful, but they can feel downright awful to the allergy-prone. According to the Family Allergy Clinic near Phoenix, Arizona, though, relief from spring allergies is just a few drops away.
The clinic prescribes sublingual allergy immunotherapy-a painless, convenient alternative to allergy shots-to combat the miseries of spring allergies (including hay fever, asthma, chronic cough, sinusitis, and more). While shots must be taken under physician supervision, drops are safer than shots and can be taken in the comfort of home.
The Family Allergy Clinic began offering the drops in the mid-1980s when its founder, Stuart Agren, M.D., went in search of a “better way” to treat allergies.
“Allergies are a huge problem,” said Dr. Agren. “They affect more than a quarter of the population. Yet the prominent treatment methods of the time had significant drawbacks.”
Dr. Agren was tired of prescribing a litany of allergy medications that had side effects and only offered his patients partial allergy relief. He was also unhappy with shot therapy because it was painful and time-consuming, requiring patients to drive to the doctor’s office multiple times a week for shots. And finally, he observed that shots took a long time to produce results.
“Allergy shots usually take six months to a year to work well,” said Dr. Agren. “That’s a long slog when you’re miserable!”
In drops, Dr. Agren said he found the perfect solution: “You get the benefits of allergy immunotherapy-which is the only treatment shown to change the underlying allergy-without having to deal with the shots.”
Dr. Agren said that drops also produced faster results.
“Patients can take the drops more frequently than they can safely take shots, so I was seeing much more rapid progress,” said Dr. Agren. “About 85 percent of my patients were reporting marked symptom reduction in just the first three months of taking drops.”
While Dr. Agren was one of the first in the country to offer sublingual immunotherapy, many other physicians have followed suit in the last few decades, prescribing either sublingual allergy drops or tablets. The FDA recently affirmed the effectiveness of sublingual immunotherapy by approving sublingual tablets that dissolve under the tongue, helping patients build up an immunity to ragweed and grass pollens.
Dr. Agren said that he favors the sublingual drops because they can protect against a wider array of allergens than the tablets. However, he said that tablets can help take the edge off for people with sensitivities to single allergens.
Pollen counts tend to spike in spring and fall, making these seasons the most uncomfortable for allergy sufferers. Common sources of spring pollens include trees such as ash, juniper, oak, and mulberry as well as Bermuda, Johnson and Timothy grass.
About Family Allergy Clinic
Doctors at this Arizona allergist clinic offer sublingual immunotherapy (under-the-tongue allergy drops) for pollen and pet allergies as well as for food allergies (including milk wheat, gluten, nut, and fruit). The treatment is effective for kids with allergies, asthma, hay fever, eczema, sinus infections, and more.
(These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.)
