Will Allergy Shots Reduce Sinus Headaches

Millions of people suffer with allergies to a variety of things. Their allergies affect their quality of life, work and families. How many times a loved one who suffers from allergies has awoke with a painful, pounding sinus headache? The pain is behind the eyes, or on one side of their head. Their sinus headache is so bad that they are unable to take care of their family nor are they able to go to work.

What can be done to reduce the sensitivity?

Often during an allergy induced sinus headache they will take over the counter pain medications to dull the pain. Most of the time during an allergy induced sinus headache the recommended dosage of the pain medication is not enough to stop the pain.

Finding effective treatments for these allergies can be a real struggle, as many of the over the counter therapies only work for short periods of time.

One treatment that many people employ is taking allergy shots. These shots contain a small amount of the substance to which one is allergic to, whether it is pollen from trees or ragweed or cat dander. The efficacy of this approach is still debatable, yet many believe that they have experienced good results with their use over time.

How do allergy shots work?

When a person receives allergy shots, the body begins to produce antibodies to that particular allergen. This helps your body to fight the allergen. So, the next time you come into contact with the allergen, these antibodies which have been created can help to block the effect it would have otherwise had. This in turn causes the symptoms to be less severe as well. Relief will begin to come with time and will typically be long-lasting.

The most common reasons for receiving allergy shots are for pollen allergies such as hay fever or allergic rhinitis and cat allergies.

Will allergy shots help those with asthma?

Asthma may be improved in some people with the use of allergy shots. These shots often come as a last resort when other methods simply haven’t helped, such as taking antihistamines or other medications.

Who should not take allergy shots?

• Those suffering from severe asthma.

• Heart disease or other chronic heart related problems.

• Children who are under five years old.

• Women who are pregnant or may become so during the course allergy shot series. This is because there is little know what affect they may have on the unborn child.

What should you expect when receiving an allergy shot treatment?

Before your doctor will prescribe allergy shots, he will first run a series of allergy tests to determine what you are allergic to. This may be in the form of a blood test or the more common skin prick test. With the results of these tests your doctor will determine the formulation your allergy shot.

Typically, the shots are started about twice a week for the first six months. Then one enters into a maintenance mode of receiving one shot per month. It will be necessary to work with your doctor to determine how long you need to receive the maintenance allergy shots.

Making the decision to receive allergy shots should be carefully planned and thought out with your physician prior to beginning.

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