Avoiding Allergy Symptoms from Mold
Mold is a sneaky allergy – it doesn’t have a typical “allergy season,” it can be found in many different environments, and it causes some strange symptoms. While it can be difficult to avoid mold, an allergy test can help determine which molds you’re allergic to, and if allergy drop immunotherapy can help you feel better.
Outdoor Molds
The La Crosse Method™ Protocol, the allergy drop treatment used at AAOL, was created in part because of outdoor molds – specifically for farmers who were suffering with never-ending allergies due to constant exposure.
Outdoor molds like to grow in places that are warm and wet, like in dirt, piles of leaves, rotting logs, and so on. They release spores that float in the wind with other allergens, like pollen, and are easily inhaled. When they reach the respiratory system, the body can react negatively, release histamine, and cause allergy symptoms like itching, sneezing, congestion, and fatigue.
Indoor Molds
Mold can also grow indoors in warm and humid locations – often bathrooms, under sinks, basements, and crawl spaces. When the mold is disturbed, that’s when the spores are released into the air and are breathed in.
You can do a few things – like keep humidity low, use air filters, and clean mold infected spots with detergent – to reduce symptoms. But mold can be missed by the naked eye, so avoiding the effects isn’t always possible.
Treatment
The only way to truly reduce – or eliminate – symptoms from mold and other environmental allergies is to treat the cause with immunotherapy. AAOL uses sublingual immunotherapy (also known as allergy drops) to introduce the body to offending allergens and build tolerance to them. Over time, the body learns to tolerate allergens and not react when exposed both outside or inside your home.
A study also found that up to 80% of sinusitis cases had a link to mold allergies, and treating the cause of mold allergy may also help those with chronic sinusitis issues.
To start with treatment, a thorough history, exam, and allergy testing are done to determine which specific molds (and other allergens) cause your reactions. Then treatment is created, custom to each patient, after putting these puzzle pieces together.
The benefit of allergy drops taken under your tongue: they can be taken wherever you are, they’re safe, and after three to five years of successful treatment, symptoms can be reduced – or even eliminated.
Contact AAOL to get started on your allergy treatment journey and feel better soon.
Posted in Environmental Allergy and tagged Mold Allergy.