Allergy Drops Provide Alternative To Shots

For persons being treated for allergies, it can be somewhat of a pain to be subjected to shots about once a week. Today, many allergists are heading down an alternate route in using allergy drops to treat their patients with allergies. These sublingual allergy drops treatments are taken at home by the patient and are showing similar benefits to weekly injections.

Typically, allergy shots consist of diluted versions of the allergen to which the patient reacts, usually at a ratio of about 100,000 to one. In some cases, ear, nose and throat allergists use a dilution of about a million to one. The allergens are injected into the patient who then must wait approximately 30 minutes to be sure there is no detrimental reaction to the injection before leaving the doctor's office.

In addition to the time involved for leaving work or school on a weekly basis, traveling to the doctor's office, getting the shot and waiting the half hour and then returning to work or school, there is also the cost of the visit to the office. Even those with health insurance that covers the cost of the allergen injection, most insurance companies require a co-payment by the patient, which adds up quickly with weekly visits.

Allergy Drops Save Time And Money

With the use of sublingual allergy drops, the patient visits the doctor two or three times a year and receives the prescription for the allergy drops. Most insurance plans cover the cost of the drops and patient's co-pay costs are reduced to the number of visits to the doctor's office. They also save the time of the weekly visits and the allergy drops are placed under the tongue each week as directed.

In the number of patients using the sublingual allergy drops there have been rare instances when a patient reacts to the drops as they may react to injections, but the advantages far outweigh the need to be in the presence of the doctor when receiving the allergen.

Many allergists will begin a patient's treatment using both shots and allergy drops and if the drops show a marked reduction in the symptoms of the allergy, the suggestion is made to the patient to use the drops exclusively. Most children will opt for the allergy drops and it has been shown that more people will take the drops on a regimented basis as opposed to the injections.