Sublingual immunotherapy is a remarkable treatment designed to alleviate allergy symptoms to specific allergens. It is a revolutionary alternative to traditional subcutaneous injections, involving tablets placed under the tongue and offering a comfortable and effective way to treat allergies.
Sublingual immunotherapy can effectively reduce allergy symptoms from different allergens, allowing you to enjoy various activities without any discomfort. If you’re dealing with allergy symptoms, sublingual immunotherapy might be a good option for you.
Exploring the Power of Immunotherapy
Allergy immunotherapy (AIT) is a remarkable treatment designed to alleviate allergy symptoms to specific allergens. This treatment is over a century old and has been proven time and time again to be highly effective.
To understand the workings of allergy immunotherapy, we need to understand the basics of an allergy. An allergy is a reaction in the body to a foreign substance called an allergen. Your body naturally produces antibodies, which may recognize certain substances as harmful even though they’re not.
When this happens, the antibodies communicate with other cells that release chemicals, triggering an allergic reaction. The symptoms in the reaction can vary, ranging from minor sniffles and itchy eyes to a serious anaphylactic reaction, which can be life-threatening and require emergent medical attention.
With that in mind, let’s explore immunotherapy. This treatment helps reduce your immune system’s responsiveness or sensitivity to a particular allergen. To do this, it reduces the production of the “blocking” antibody responsible for creating the symptoms.
The treatment starts with a mild dose of the allergen, which is administered subcutaneously (under the skin) via an injection or sublingually (under the tongue) via a tablet. The dosage slowly increases over the next months and years, slowly building your tolerance to the allergen and decreasing your sensitivity.
What is Sublingual Immunotherapy?
There are two types of immunotherapy: sublingual and subcutaneous. The former is administered under the tongue and is an excellent alternative to subcutaneous injections. While subcutaneous injections are widely used, they’re not ideal for those who don’t like needles. This is where sublingual allergy treatment steals the spotlight.
Unlike subcutaneous immunotherapy, allergy sublingual immunotherapy doesn’t involve needles. Instead, it’s administered under the tongue using a dissolvable tablet containing the allergen. You’ll wait one to two minutes for the tablet to dissolve and swallow the remnants.
You’ll take a tablet up to once a day or as few as three times per week, depending on the type and severity of your allergy. Over the following months and years, the tablet will help build your tolerance to the allergen.
While subcutaneous immunotherapy has been developed to address a wide variety of allergies, the list for treating allergies with sublingual immunotherapy is limited. As of 2023, the FDA has only approved tablets for dust mites, ragweed, and northern pasture grasses like timothy.
However, researchers are continually looking to expand this list of sublingual immunotherapy for allergies. The current options can be incredibly effective at treating allergies, although most folks need to continue the treatment for three years or longer to see the continual effects.
It’s important to note you may come across allergy drops, but these are not FDA-approved and are off-label in the United States.
Benefits of Sublingual Immunotherapy
Sublingual immunotherapy, just like subcutaneous immunotherapy, has a wide range of benefits. It can effectively reduce allergy symptoms from different allergens, allowing you to enjoy various activities without any discomfort.
Additionally, it’s an excellent alternative to allergy shots, especially for those who are afraid of needles. Although the list of allergens sublingual immunotherapy is limited, researchers are currently working to expand this list and provide people with allergies a more comfortable way to alleviate their symptoms through immunotherapy.
Wrapping Up
Sublingual immunotherapy is a revolutionary treatment that offers a comfortable and effective alternative to traditional subcutaneous injections for people with allergies. While the list of allergens for sublingual immunotherapy is limited, it has been proven to be highly effective in treating dust mites, ragweed, and northern pasture grasses like timothy.
As researchers continue to explore and expand the options for sublingual immunotherapy, it has the potential to provide relief to a growing number of allergy sufferers. Sublingual immunotherapy costs are well worth it for many, especially considering health insurance may cover it.
If you’re dealing with allergy symptoms, talk to your healthcare provider about whether sublingual immunotherapy might be a good option for you.
Marissa is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist turned stay-at-home mom who loves sharing her tips, tricks, and ideas for navigating motherhood. Her days are filled starting tickle wars and dance parties with three energetic toddlers and wondering how long she can leave the house a mess until her husband notices. When she doesn’t have her hands full of children, she enjoys a glass (or 3) of wine, reality tv, and country music. In addition to blogging about all things motherhood, she sells printables on Etsy and has another website, teachinglittles.com, for kid’s activity ideas.
