How to Know When It’s Time to See an Allergy Provider

When it comes to environmental allergies, a lot of people think it’s something they just must live with. Doesn’t everyone have allergies? What is there to do about it, anyway?

Having allergies isn’t just a normal thing that happens. When exposed to an allergen, the body mistakenly identifies it as a threat and responds to fight back. This is a reaction that’s not normal, and it can be exhausting on the body.

How do you know when it’s time to stop suffering through your allergies? At Allergy Associates of La Crosse (AAOL), we treat, and see the value in treating, allergies of all severities whenever they impact the patient’s life. Here are three big signs that it may be time to get allergy help.

Frequent flare-ups of related conditions

When exposed to environmental allergens, the body responds by releasing histamine into the bloodstream to fight back against those causing reactions. This leads to inflammation and the typical seasonal allergy symptoms.

The added, near-constant, inflammation that comes with allergy can be a trigger for a lot of other chronic conditions. A few of these allergy-related conditions are:

• Eczema
• Chronic Sinusitis
• Asthma
• Chronic headaches
• Food allergies
• IBS

And more. If you’re taken down by one, or many, of these conditions throughout the year, treating your underlying allergies could make you feel better.

Missing work, school or life events

Allergies shouldn’t - and don’t have to - keep you from living your life. Missing work, school, or life events because of allergies or allergy-related conditions isn’t normal. Take a look at the days you missed last year and evaluate if those are days you’re willing to miss year after year.

Near-constant use of symptom relievers

Think about all the things you buy and use to control your symptoms.

• Antihistamines
• Itch creams
• Eye drops
• Nasal sprays
• Inhalers
• Office visits for flare ups

Not to mention the lengths you take in your home to reduce dust mites, pet dander and mold. If you feel like you’re constantly playing defense against your allergies, you could benefit from treating the cause.

Treating the cause

Providers at AAOL treat allergy using highly personalized, safe an effective allergy drop immunotherapy. Allergy drops contain a tiny amount of the allergens you are allergic to, identified through allergy testing. This small amount is enough to help build tolerance, but not too high to cause reactions.

Over a typical three to five years of treatment, the strength of the allergens are slowly and safely increased so that the body learns to not react when exposed to higher levels of the allergens naturally. Most people leave treatment with reduced (or eliminated) symptoms, fewer or no flare-ups from allergy-related conditions, and a higher quality of life.

Take our quiz to see if allergy drops are right for you.