Allergy Immunotherapy (AIT or allergy shots), have been administered in the United States for well over a hundred years. They are tried and true and when done appropriately, AIT is an excellent therapy. In fact, AIT is the most natural way to treat allergy, asthma, and eczema. At Coastal Allergy Care, each patient’s antigen is made specifically for them based on their allergy test results. Allergy shots are not a muscular injection like most vaccines. Rather, they are subcutaneous injection in the back of the arm. Allergy shots have 2 phases: the “build up” phase when the injection amount and concentration is being increased slowly and the “maintenance” phase when you have reached the “highest dose.”
At Coastal Allergy Care we have 2 options for the buildup phase: standard buildup and cluster buildup.
STANDARD
In standard or traditional AIT the patient comes in 1-2 times a week for an allergy shot.
It takes anywhere from 4 1/2 months to 9 months to get to the “maintenance” dose. This depends on how frequently a patient comes in for their shots and how they tolerate the shots.
Reactions are always possible with any allergy shot therapy but the risk of a reaction is lower with traditional shot therapy.
CLUSTER
Cluster shot therapy speeds up the buildup phase. In Cluster shot therapy the patient makes an appointment. The patient will receive a sequence of shots and will be closely monitored. Typically, cluster appointments are 1-2 times a week but variations are possible. Since the risk of a reaction is higher, cluster is not an option for everybody. In addition, the patients are given a specific “pre-medication” regimen to follow.
This method can drastically decrease the “build- up” time and expedite “maintenance” since you are receiving multiple “build-up” injections in one session.
Please call the office if you have any AIT questions about standard or cluster or to see if you are a candidate for Cluster AIT.
Call the office of request an appointment online. 805-482-8989
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