|
Desensitization as an Effective Allergy Treatment |
 As a rule, if you have an allergy, the most effective allergy treatment is to learn what causes your allergy symptoms and stay away from that allergen. But you are no doubt aware that there are medical professionals devoted to giving you more options than that. An allergist or an immunologist has resources to help you fight your allergy with effective medications that can provide greater support than simple avoidance. Moreover, medical science does have a method for you to consider that could "cure" that allergy problem entirely. That process is called desensitization and depending on the kind of allergy you have, it can be a tremendously effective allergy treatment approach.
Of course, to say that desensitization is an effective allergy treatment to cure an allergy is not entirely accurate. That is because an allergy cannot really be cured because it isn't really an illness. An allergy is the result of a problem with your immune system where it mistakes something harmless and in many cases beneficial for something harmful. The "allergen" is the harmless thing that triggers your allergy.
An allergen could be anything from the very nice perfume your date is wearing to something wonderful to eat like eggs or fish. But your immune system mistakenly takes that trigger as a danger to you. So the immune system generates chemicals to attack the allergen in the same way it effectively battles virus bugs or other things that threaten your health. Those chemicals that are called histamines are what cause the symptoms of your allergy. And even though those chemicals are generated for your health by your immune system, they can make you very sick and in some cases turn dangerous for your health.
The process of getting rid of an allergy entirely involves training the immune system to stop generating histamines to attack the allergen. The effective treatment that has been developed is called immunotherapy simply because it is therapy for the immune system. When you get a vaccine for the flu, a similar tactic is used because the vaccine is actually a low dose of the virus itself which then "teaches" the immune system what to attack. The effective therapy for allergies is to use the same approach with an opposite objective. The allergist will introduce low does of the allergen to your system to "teach" your immune system not to attack it.
Desensitization allergy treatment can be very effective against allergies to insect stings, against hay fever and against allergies to some animals or insect stings. Immunotherapy is often essential if the allergy symptoms you are susceptible to are dangerous to your health or life threatening.
However, it is important to be aware of the fact that desensitization allergy treatments are expensive, somewhat unpleasant and they require weekly visits to your allergist for the treatment. The process takes an investment of time and money. So in most cases desensitization allergy treatment is not considered to be the first thing people try when they look for ways to cope with their allergies.
When desensitization therapy is used, low does of the allergen are introduced to your body over a long period of time. Each treatment introduces a slightly higher dose and then time is allowed for the immune system to adapt to that level of exposure to the allergy trigger. The actual administration of this approach to allergy treatment is often done by a doctor by placing a drop of the allergen just below the skin's surface or under the tongue. Tests will be done prior to starting desensitization allergy treatment to determine the level of exposure to the allergen that your immunes system will tolerate initially. The doctor will start there and gradually introduce higher doses until your immune system is desensitized to the allergen. At that point, you will be "cured" of the allergy.
|