Allergy treatment at the Family Asthma and Allergy Center is prescribed after thorough evaluation of your condition, which is based on the duration of symptoms, severity of symptoms, results of allergy testing, and previous treatments. Potential allergens are diagnosed with allergy skin tests or sometimes blood tests. For the mildest disease, oral antihistamines, nasal sprays, and eye drops are usually enough. For moderate disease, steroid nasal sprays or leukotriene inhibitors such as Montelukast may be sufficient. Avoidance of allergens diagnosed by skin tests is necessary in all cases. Since many of the inhaled allergens cannot be avoided, allergy injections are prescribed to induce immune tolerance in patients with moderate/severe disease that are not controlled on medications or wish to avoid long term use of medications.

For those averse to injections, oral allergy drops or sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) can be a good alternative. Most inhalant allergens can be treated with SLIT. Unlike allergy injections, SLIT is a home based treatment. Multiple studies have proven that oral drops are as effective as allergy injections. However, health insurance companies cover the cost of allergy injections, but not SLIT. Allergy tablets for Timothy grass, ragweed, and dust mite have recently become available. We do not typically prescribe these tablets because most patients are allergic to multiple allergens, and will get better results with traditional injections or SLIT.