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Allergy Treatment

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, more than 50 million Americans suffer from various types of allergies each year. If you’re one of those 50 million Americans suffering from allergies, learn about your treatment options from board-certified ENT Dr. Akash Anand at GNO Snoring & Sinus in Metro New Orleans.

Types of Allergies

While there are multiple forms of allergies such as food allergies, insect allergies, and drug allergies, GNO Snoring & Sinus exclusively deals with allergic rhinitis (hay fever). These allergies are caused when your immune system recognizes a substance as harmful and produces antibodies in response. Depending on your circumstances, allergic rhinitis can cause multiple symptoms.

Allergy Symptoms

The most common allergy symptoms include:

  • Itching of the nose, eyes, or roof of the mouth
  • Swelling of the lips, tongue, face, or throat
  • Hives
  • Coughing, chest tightness, wheezing, or shortness of breath

Allergy Treatments

While your treatment options may vary depending on the severity of your symptoms, some common allergy treatments include:

Medications

Depending on the type of allergies you’re suffering from, medications can help to lessen the reactions of your immune system and reduce your daily symptoms.

Emergency epinephrine

If you suffer from severe allergies, Dr. Anand may recommend that you carry an emergency epinephrine shot with you at all times. These shots can help reduce the symptoms of an allergic reaction until you can find emergency medical treatment.

Allergen avoidance

As part of your treatment, Dr. Anand may recommend ways to identify and avoid your allergy triggers. This is usually the first step in reducing your allergy symptoms.

Immunotherapy

Dr. Anand may recommend immunotherapy for severe allergies or allergies not fully relieved by other methods. This treatment involves you typically undergoing a series of injections of purified allergen extracts. Another common form of immunotherapy includes patients placing a tablet under their tongue until it dissolves.

New Patient Visits for Allergy Treatment

Initial Visit

Many patients who suffer from sinus and sleep issues with an allergic constitution experience flare-ups during certain times of the year. During your initial visit with Dr. Anand, he will review your symptoms and medical history to arrive at a presumptive diagnosis.

Workup

In cases of high suspicion for underlying allergy, Dr. Anand may perform allergy skin testing to assess your response to various airborne allergens. Further evaluation using nasal endoscopy may also be performed to characterize the anatomy of your nasal airway. Patients with allergic findings causing their nasal congestion may have “pale, boggy” inferior turbinate as well as nasal polyps. Depending on your circumstances, Dr. Anand may also use diagnostic imaging with a CT scan to further characterize the anatomy of your sinus region.

Treatment

After Dr. Anand has arrived at an accurate diagnosis based on your medical history and testing, he will discuss medical or in-office treatments with you. Medical therapy with antihistamines, saline irrigations, and leukotriene inhibitors may assist in symptomatic reduction. In cases where medications are ineffective, oral or injection immunotherapy may be discussed to further symptom control. Procedures may assist in reducing allergy symptoms, but they do not change the underlying allergy. For the reasons discussed above, most patients are treated with a combination of medical and procedural options.

Allergy FAQs

What is an allergy?

An allergy occurs when you react to things like pollen or cats that don’t affect most people. If you come into contact with something you are allergic to (called an allergen), you may have symptoms such as itching or sneezing.

How are skin tests done?

At GNO Snoring & Sinus, we perform scratch testing. A tiny drop of an allergen is placed into the skin. This is the most common type of skin test.

What can I expect during a skin test?
Various allergens unique to our environment will be tested. It takes about five minutes to place the allergens on your skin. Then you will wait about 15 minutes to see if a small red bump appears where any of the allergens were placed.
What do the skin test results mean?
If you’re sensitive to an allergen during the scratch test, a small red bump appears on the skin where that allergen was placed. The larger the bump, the more sensitive you may be to it. These results are called positive skin tests and mean that you may be allergic to the allergen tested.
How should I prepare for the test?
Tell your provider about all medicines you’re taking, including any over-the-counter medications. Don’t take antihistamines for three days before the test.
What happens if the skin test shows I have allergies?

Your provider will create a plan for controlling your allergies. This means preventing and treating symptoms.

  • Avoid or limit contact with your allergens. For example, if you’re allergic to dust mites, reduce the clutter in your house, which collects dust.
  • Take medicine to relieve your symptoms. Your provider may prescribe medicines such as antihistamines, decongestants, leukotriene inhibitors, nasal sprays, or eye drops.
  • Allergy shots: Some people need them when they can’t avoid an allergen. The shots contain a tiny but increasing amount of the allergen you’re sensitive to. Over time, the small increases in the amount of your allergen – things like dust, pollen, mold, and pet dander – cause the immune system to become less sensitive to it. That reduces your allergy symptoms when you come across the allergen in the future.
  • Office procedures: Nasal procedures do not treat the underlying allergy but do treat symptoms of nasal congestion and postnasal drip. For patients in whom medications fail to control these symptoms, office procedures effectively provide symptomatic relief.

Contact the Highly Personal Team at GNO Snoring & Sinus

Dr. Anand has performed more than 6,000 sinus and sleep apnea procedures and is a leading authority in the treatment of sleep and sinus disorders for patients in the Greater New Orleans area. We proudly accept Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance plans for all of our allergy treatments and other services. Request an appointment at GNO Snoring & Sinus to help find relief for your allergies.