Allergy shots are a form of treatment that involves helping your body to become less sensitive to your allergen.

In this kind of allergy management, you are actually injected with gradually increasing trace amounts of the substance that you are allergic to, which can help your body to develop a tolerance for the allergen. This treatment is also known as allergen immunotherapy.

Allergy shots have a good track record for airborne allergies. Research shows that in individuals with allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma or stinging insect allergy, allergy shots can prevent new allergies from arising, as well as prevent allergic rhinitis from progressing to asthma. In addition, allergy shots can provide long-term relief from allergy symptoms even after the treatment is stopped.

Immunotherapy is not for everyone. If you have food allergies, you are out of luck; your best bet is still to avoid your allergen scrupulously. Also, immunotherapy will never be prescribed for someone who experiences anaphylaxis in reaction to an allergen.

However, just because you have hay fever doesn’t mean that you should be on allergy shots. A medical professional will look at a whole group of factors before recommending shots, including the length of time you have symptoms and how severe they are, how well you are able to control symptoms through avoidance or medication, and how well you tolerate your allergy medications.

It is important to keep in mind that allergy shots are a long term time commitment: you will likely be on these shots for 3 to 5 years, and will receive shots as frequently as 2 or more times a week in the initial treatment phase.  There can also be significant costs associated with receiving shots, especially if your medical insurance does not cover this treatment.

Immunotherapy works somewhat like a vaccine. The shot helps your body to develop an ‘immunity’ to your allergens. You start by getting a very small dose of your particular allergens, and then the dosage is gradually increased.

The treatment will generally follow 2 distinct phases: a build-up phase and a maintenance phase. The build up phase involves the most frequent administration of injections to build up from very small dosages to larger ones. Maintenance starts when you have reached a certain tolerance, depending on how allergic you are and how you have responded to the build up treatment.

This is not a quick fix. While you may get some benefit in the form of reduced reaction during the build-up phase of treatment, you can expect to wait as long as 12 months into the maintenance phase before you see real improvement. It’s also possible that you will see a slow decrease in symptoms over the time of the treatment. However, allergy shots don’t always work. This can be due to a number of things, including too low a dose in each shot, or unidentified allergens that continue to cause the reaction. Also, if you are being exposed to a lot of non-allergic triggers, like cigarette smoke or high levels of pollution, you could continue to have symptoms even though your allergy is being treated.

Another challenge is controlling your exposure to your allergen, when outside of the doctor’s office. Ideally, your only main exposure should be the shot itself. If you can’t reduce or eliminate your exposure otherwise, you could see reduced benefits.

Obviously, this is not a self-administered treatment. In most cases, you’ll go to your allergist’s office and be carefully monitored after the injection. This approach is taken in case you have a serious reaction to an injection. In the vast majority of cases, you’ll be required to wait at least 30 minutes after an allergy shot.

So, when you consider the amount of time and commitment that is required for this treatment, you’ll also have to keep in mind that each doctor appointment will be at least 30 minutes, with all your travel time and other waiting time on top of that. 

Given all this, you have to be very committed to the treatment to get the maximum benefit.

Allergy shots are generally not recommended for children under 5, despite the fact that it can help children to avoid new allergies or the progression of allergic reactions from rhinitis to asthma. The issue is the trauma of having a child comply with frequent and painful injections.

However, there is no upper limit to the age at which you can be treated; the patient’s health and other medical conditions are the main considerations at any age.