Your Health Matters
By Claudia Parks, R.N.

Local physicians have received notice this week of the opening of a "Pain-Free Allergy Clinic" in Blairsville. That got me thinking about the awful experiences my friends and family have faced when confronted with allergy testing and treatment.

In my experience, allergy testing has always been done with the "prick test"; 20 to 60 needle pricks on the back and arm with various allergens to see which will turn into welts. The bigger the welt, the more sensitive the patient was deemed to be to that particular allergen. If antihistamines and nasal steroid sprays were not sufficient to ease the symptoms, immunotherapy was recommended, consisting of several years of weekly injections. How could an allergy clinic possibly take on the name of "Pain-Free"? Time to investigate.

The Pain-Free Allergy Clinic, as I discovered, is located in the office of Dr. Wendy Smith, a previous subject of this column. Dr. Smith is an Otolaryngologist, or Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon. Many of the surgeries she does on patient noses are to repair the damage caused by patient allergies; removal of nasal polyps and reduction of turbinates as prime examples. In an effort to help patients avoid these surgeries and to help patients get off the antihistamines and steroids which can have harmful side affects, Dr. Smith has opened an allergy clinic to provide immunotherapy.

What is immunotherapy and how does it help allergy patients? Allergies are caused when the body mistakenly reacts to allergens (pollens, animal dander or molds) as if they are an invading germ. The inside of the nose swells, runs and itches, the eyes itch and tear, and the patient becomes lethargic as the body's system acts as if it's fighting a major battle with an invader of its system. Immunotherapy teaches the body to accept increasing doses of allergens without triggering such a reaction. By the end of the typical three-year immunotherapy regimen the patient is receiving highly concentrated doses of those very things that would have triggered an allergic reaction just three years before. The body has been trained to accept allergens without a sneeze.

Now back to the original question. How does Dr. Smith provide the allergy testing and immunotherapy - pain free? First, rather than using the "prick test" of 20 to 60 needle pricks on the back to test for allergies, the Pain-Free Allergy Clinic draws a sample of the patient's blood and sends it to a laboratory which identifies the specific allergens that cause the patient to react and indicates the exact level of sensitivity. In keeping with the pain free aspect, the nurse applies a numbing cream on the arm so the patient doesn't even feel a needle stick for the blood draw.

How does the Pain-Free Allergy Clinic avoid the weekly immunotherapy injections? They use sublingual immunotherapy. Sublingual means "under the tongue". Dr. Smith's patients simply put several drops of their treatment under their tongue each day. Truly pain free. What's more, this treatment is a great deal more convenient for the patient. According to Dr. Smith "Our patients come from as far away as Robbinsville and Franklin in North Carolina and Blue Ridge, Georgia. There is no way they could visit my clinic every week for injections. With sublingual immunotherapy we can teach the patient how to administer the drops under their tongue and then send them home with their dropper. When their dropper runs low they just call us and we mix the next dropper according to their immunotherapy plan and send it to them in the mail. They only need to visit me twice a year for a checkup."

What a wonderful program for people who suffer from allergies in our mountain community. To learn more about Dr. Wendy Smith's Pain-Free Allergy Clinic, or to set up an appointment for allergy testing, call 706-745-1305. She is located on the Union General Hospital campus in Blairsville, Georgia.

Claudia Parks, RN, is a former doctor's office and emergency room nurse and retired as an educator from Fulton County Schools. She writes Your Health Matters as a public service; the information here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your physician. Claudia and her husband make their home in the beautiful north Georgia Mountains, near Blairsville. Claudia can be reached at yhm@windstream.net