How To Help Your Child’s Allergies With Immunotherapy
How to treat children's seasonal allergies
Seasonal allergies can make your child miserable. The best way to manage their symptoms is by limiting their exposure to triggers and providing them with children’s over-the-counter allergy medication. If they’re old enough, immunotherapy is an effective way of treating their symptoms instead of just managing them.
As a parent, there’s nothing worse than seeing your child suffer. And it’s no different when they experience allergy symptoms. The pediatrician-recommended medication makes them sleepy, and there’s no way you want to take them for weekly allergy injections.
There is another solution, sublingual immunotherapy.
What Are the Symptoms of Children’s Allergies?
Before you know if immunotherapy is the right treatment for your child, you must be sure that allergies are the problem and understand what allergens trigger symptoms. If your child is always stuffy, snotty, and seems like they have a long-lasting cold, it’s time to get them tested for allergies.
You can take them to an allergist’s office for a skin-prick test. During this test, serums are placed on your child’s back, then their skin is pricked with a needle. If an allergy exists, an itchy, red hive appears. The test involves multiple needle pricks and causes uncomfortable side effects.
Another option is an at-home allergy test. These tests require only one finger prick and can test for over 40 environmental allergens, all from the comfort of home!
What Is the Best Way to Treat a Child’s Allergies?
Many parents believe an antihistamine is the only option to reduce their child’s allergy symptoms. While antihistamines are effective at treating a child’s allergies short-term, the effects do not last, and multiple doses can be needed daily. Your child may also experience side effects, including drowsiness.
Sublingual immunotherapy, on the other hand, offers long-term allergy relief without injections or long waits at the doctor’s office. What’s more, immunotherapy can give your child a life free from allergy symptoms!
What Is Sublingual Immunotherapy?
Sublingual immunotherapy is a clinically-proven method of improving a child's allergies and asthma symptoms. Through immunotherapy, the immune system is exposed to trace amounts of allergens. The amount is so small that the body doesn’t react.
As treatment progresses, the dose increases and then stabilizes. The immune system becomes desensitized to the allergen and, eventually, stops reacting when exposed to it, which means an end to allergy symptoms for your child!
Unlike allergy shots, which require needle injections in the arm, children do well with allergy drops because they take them by mouth from home.
How to Decrease a Child’s Asthma Symptoms?
If your child has asthma and allergies, work to limit their exposure to allergens as allergic reactions increase their risk of an asthma attack. For children with seasonal allergies, keep them indoors when pollen counts are high. When they go outside, try to have them wear a mask.
If your child has indoor allergies, clean your child’s room regularly and eliminate unnecessary carpets, upholstery, and plush toys where dust mites and animal dander may hide. Wash bedding and stuffed animals weekly in hot water, and don’t allow pets in your child’s bedroom.
Children with allergies have a higher risk of developing asthma later in life. Asthma can add challenges to a child’s life and limit their activities. According to numerous studies, treating children with allergy drops decreases their allergy and asthma symptoms and increases their overall health and wellness.
Take Our Allergy Assessment
If you want to give your child a better future, one that’s free from allergy symptoms, contact Wyndly today. Our allergy specialists are standing by to answer your questions and address your concerns. To see if sublingual immunotherapy is right for your child, start with our easy two-minute assessment!
