Allergy Drops: How This Effective Solution Can Help Manage Your Child’s Allergies
Managing your child’s allergies can be challenging, especially if you’re trying to juggle traditional treatments that offer temporary relief, like decongestants or antihistamines. While these options can be incredibly effective at suppressing the symptoms over the short term, they only work for a little while. Luckily, there’s a long-term alternative: allergy immunotherapy.
This revolutionary treatment helps achieve an allergen-specific tolerance in your child through repeated exposure to the allergen, helping your little one enjoy life without the doom and gloom allergies.
Understanding Your Child’s Allergies
Your kiddo’s allergies are much like an adult’s allergies. They experience many of the same symptoms, which are triggered by the same immune response. When your child has an allergy, their immune systems react to exposure to that allergen, even though it isn’t harmful.
Their bodies produce antibodies that flag the allergen, whether it’s bee venom or pet dander, as harmful. So, when the red flag flies after exposure to the allergen, those antibodies communicate with cells that release specific chemicals, causing the symptoms you recognise as an allergic reaction.
These symptoms may include:
* Skin rashes
* Hives
* Difficulty breathing
* Sneezing
* Coughing
* Runny nose
* Itchy eyes
* Stomach upset
Sometimes, the allergy can be so severe that it triggers anaphylaxis, a serious and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that requires immediate medical attention.
What Are Allergy Drops?
Allergy drops are a type of allergy immunotherapy, a treatment designed to desensitize the body to a particular allergen. It falls under the category of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), which involves administering the allergen under the tongue via liquid drops.
The drops work by delivering a small, incrementally increasing dose of the allergen to the body. When your kiddo swallows the drops, their body is exposed to the allergen. While this exposure may trigger a slight allergic response, it’s uncommon with this type of immunotherapy.
This controlled exposure slowly “trains” the body to become less reactive to the allergen, reducing the production of the “blocking” antibodies that trigger the reaction. It gives your child’s body the opportunity to build an allergen-specific tolerance, thus alleviating the allergy and minimising the symptoms your child experiences when exposed to the allergen.
Other Types of Allergy Immunotherapy
Allergy drops are a type of sublingual immunotherapy, which is one of two types of allergy immunotherapy. The second type is called subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT), a treatment that involves injections administered under the skin.
Subcutaneous immunotherapy is the most common type of allergy immunotherapy, but it’s less popular for kids. This option requires you to bring your child to the doctor for each injection and stay for monitoring afterward, as these injections present a higher risk of an adverse reaction.
Are Allergy Drops a Good Option for Kids?
Allergy drops are an excellent option for kiddos, especially those who don’t enjoy needles. This approach to allergy immunotherapy saves both you and your child the hassle of frequent doctor visits for injections. Since many kids don’t like needles and the routine visits to the doctor’s office can put strain on an already busy schedule, allergy drops can be a great alternative to allergy shots.
With allergy drops, you can administer the treatment from the comfort of your own home, with no doctor visits or injections necessary!
Do Allergy Drops Actually Work?
Allergy drops might sound too good to be true. After all, between the convenience of at-home doses and the lack of frequent injections, it might sound a bit far-fetched. So, you might find yourself wondering if they actually work. The answer? They do!
They’re just as effective as subcutaneous immunotherapy. The efficacy has been documented across many studies and trials that evaluate both types of immunotherapy. For example, one study evaluated AIT’s long-term impact on allergic rhinitis. It discovered that both SCIT and SLIT are effective in achieving an allergen-specific tolerance, as both offered clinical benefits and immunological changes that indicated such.
So, with a long-term commitment to the treatment plan, allergy drops can help you manage your kiddo’s allergies. While the process takes time, the treatment may eventually help your child’s immune system become less reactive to the allergen, in turn keeping them more comfortable, even when they’re exposed to the allergen.
AIT can even stop the development of new allergen sensitisation and cease the progression of allergic rhinitis to asthma!
Closing Thoughts
Allergy drops can be an effective and valuable solution for managing your child’s allergies. Between their impressive efficacy and the convenience of at-home administration, these drops are an excellent choice for parents seeking to alleviate their child’s allergy symptoms. By desensitising your child’s body to specific allergens, these drops offer a promising path toward long-term relief.
If you’re considering allergy drops for your child, remember to talk to your child’s healthcare provider first. They can help you choose the best type of immunotherapy based on your child’s needs and medical history.