Allergy Treatment in Federal Way, WA
Take Control of Your Allergies Today
Dr. Ryan Stern and his team provide testing and treatment for allergies for people of all ages. Dr. Stern’s patients travel from all over nearby areas including Tacoma, Auburn, Renton and Kent to receive the best treatment for their allergies. Contact Dr. Stern’s office today at (253) 661-2520 and schedule your consultation today!
How are Allergies Diagnosed?
The initial step in the treatment of an allergy is an accurate diagnosis by an allergist or immunologist like Dr. Stern. Patients need to have themselves tested to confirm if they have some forms of allergic reactions. It involves deciding whether the patient’s symptoms are caused by an allergy and, if so, determining what triggers the allergy as accurately as possible. The resulting diagnosis will target the appropriate treatment or clinical intervention to allow avoidance of the allergic trigger which will help to eliminate or minimize symptoms.
An accurate diagnosis by Dr. Stern is obtained using a combination of approaches and tests that can include skin-pricks and blood tests to identify and confirm a diagnosis. This is also one of the most common ways for allergies to be diagnosed. Also known as prick testing, an area of the forearm is chosen and marked with a hypoallergenic pen. Small traces of allergens are placed on the punctured areas and observed within 30 seconds to see if the body has any reactions towards the allergens. This test also determines the severity of the allergic reaction.
Another method of testing for allergic reactions is to undergo blood testing wherein your blood IgE levels will be tested. This test does not predict the severity of the reaction but is good qualitative test to predict allergic reactions.
Leading the Way in the Treatment and Management of Allergies
Dr. Stern specializes in the treatment and management of allergic and immunologic disorders affecting both children and adults. Our allergy specialists provide care including allergy testing, allergy treatments, asthma treatments, and immunotherapy. Our commitment to our patients has earned our Dr. Stern the reputation of being one of Federal Way and Auburn’s best allergy and asthma clinics.
What Allergy Treatment Options are Available?
Controlling Allergy Symptoms
These treatments can be self-administered and do not necessarily need to be based on an accurate diagnosis. Examples include the use of over-the-counter medications such as antihistamine creams and steroid creams for eczema and antihistamine pills for nasal symptoms that include rhinitis. More serious conditions can be treated with inhalers for asthma, skin creams for eczema and auto-injectors for anaphylaxis resulting from, among other causes, insect bites, without having identified whether the condition is truly an allergy.
Avoiding Allergens
This approach is used mainly for allergies caused by food, drugs, venom, latex and animal dander. This can also include occupational allergies, and to a lesser extent, depending on the suspected cause, asthma, rhinitis and eczema. When using allergen avoidance, it is important to know that there may be interactions resulting from cross-reactions between, to name a few, latex and fruits and vegetables as well as tree pollen and fresh fruits. While it may appear simple, avoiding allergens may be difficult to achieve, costly and may not be completely successful.
Rescue Medications
This approach is often part of an individual’s emergency self-treatment plan for acute attacks such as for acute tongue swelling or anaphylaxis that can result from insect bites.
Immunotherapy
By administering an allergen either via a beneath the skin (subcutaneous) injection or under the tongue (sublingual) an allergist or immunologist can try to reintroduce a patient’s immunological tolerance to a particular allergen. These procedures are typically used to treat allergies caused by pollen rhinitis, venom, asthma and cat allergy. On occasion, the use of drugs to desensitize a patient to a particular allergen can also be used.
See an Allergen Specialist in Auburn or Federal Way, WA
There are many approaches to treating allergies, and that first step should be seeing our ENT Specialist, Dr. Ryan Stern for a proper diagnosis to start a proper treatment plan. Call our ENT office in Federal Way or Auburn at (253) 661-2520.