NORFOLK -- Whether "seasonal" or "other" describes it, anyone with a severe allergy knows the agony that can come with it: clogged nose, coughing, a head that feels like it will explode.
About one American out of six suffers from some kind of allergy. Anyone hoping to build up resistance or immunity to his particular kind was left with the sole option of shots. The often weekly trip to the doctor's office meant sticking around for about 30 minutes after getting stuck to make sure that the shot didn't cause a severe reaction. Recently, an alternative has made its way into the United States and Hampton Roads.
"The patients can avoid the pain and reaction of a shot, and, actually, take the same allergen in a droplet form and place it under the tongue," explains Barry Strasnick, MD, FACS, Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
EVMS has a new Allergy Division that falls under Strasnick's department. It's offering Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT), a treatment for allergies that has been used widely in Europe for decades.
"What you do is, at home, is put a few drops of the allergen under your tongue, let it dissolve about five minutes, and you can do it on a daily basis," Strasnick tells 13News. "All of the traditional allergens that you would receive injections for are now gonna be available by this droplet form, and, so, the typical allergens such as trees, dust, mites, dander, all of those will be available by sublingual form."
Strasnick says the method also can be used for food allergies, although the science for those is in its infancy. Extensive study of Sublingual Immunotherapy hasn't been done in the United States, but research in Europe has shown it to be effective and, more important, perhaps, safe.
Strasnick says the biggest advantage to SLIT is convenience, with patients being able to avoid trips to the doctor, deciding when they want to take their drops.
"I received allergy shots for five years when I was a kid," says Strasnick. "I well remember the pain and inconvenience of that, so I would love to have had this kind of opportunity."
