Immunotherapy
What if the usual treatments don’t work?
Most people who suffer from allergies find relief from over-the-counter treatments such as antihistamines and prescription steroids. These come in the form of tablets, nasal sprays and eye drops. If none of these have helped you, then you may need another type of medication – in which case you may be a candidate for specific immunotherapy.
Specific Immunotherapy
This well established treatment, also known as ‘desensitisation therapy’, addresses the underlying cause of your allergy and not just the symptoms. As a result it provides long term relief and improves your quality of life.
A 3 – 5 year treatment schedule is recommended for specific immunotherapy. The aim is to reduce allergy symptoms and the need for symptomatic medication.
Take our quiz to find out if you can be referred for specific immunotherapy.
Subcutaneous immunotherapy
Subcutaneous immunotherapy is the most common form of specific immunotherapy* and involves a course of injections that build up your tolerance to particular allergens through small, controlled doses. Over time this desensitises your inappropriate immune response so your body won’t overreact and create the histamine release that causes the symptoms.
In the past this required many courses of injections. However, newer vaccines contain chemically modified allergens, or allergoids, that are captured in a slow-release solution. This allows a controlled release of the allergen into your system in just six injections or fewer.
Sublingual immunotherapy
Sublingual immunotherapy is an alternative to injection immunotherapy. For this form of treatment, daily drops or tablets containing the specific allergen are placed under the tongue. The first dose of the sublingual immunotherapy will be administered in hospital under observation then you will be required to self-administer the treatment every day for a minimum of three consecutive years.
Sublingual immunotherapy can be very effective at building up your tolerance to particular allergens and reducing your allergic symptoms however this requires a very high level of treatment compliance.
Allergy testing
The skin prick test is so quick that you can have your results in approximately 15 minutes. Different allergens are introduced into the skin with a tiny lancet. A positive reaction to an allergen causes the skin to become itchy and swollen – a very similar response to a nettle sting.
The skin prick test can help determine which allergens you are sensitive to (for example, grass pollen or tree pollen), allowing your allergy specialist to determine the most suitable specific immunotherapy for you.
*AT data on file