Sublingual Drops Specialist

What are allergy drops?

Allergy drops are a form of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), which involves putting custom-formulated liquid drops of allergens under your tongue daily to build up your body’s tolerance to the allergen. Allergy drops are an alternative to allergy shots for those patients who don’t want to get regular injections.

Allergy drops have been studied and tested for more than 20 years in Europe and South America and have been shown to be effective at reducing allergies in clinical trials. While allergy drops are a safe alternative to allergy shots, they’re not currently approved by the FDA and aren’t covered by insurance at this time.

How do allergy drops work?

Using allergy drops is a simple at-home process that can be performed on patients of all ages. Once Dr. Geller and Dr. Chan has completed your allergy testing and determined the cause of your allergies, the doctor formulates a custom liquid drop solution for you.

Your doctors then explain how to use the drops, the correct dosage, and how often to administer them. Once you return home, you’ll typically place one drop under your tongue each day. This drop is then absorbed under your tongue into your bloodstream where your body identifies it as a milder form of something you’re allergic to.

You may experience milder symptoms of your allergy or ideally no symptoms at all as you take your allergy drops daily. This builds up tolerance in your immune system so that your immune system becomes accustomed to the allergen and no longer recognizes it as harmful.

When are allergy drops recommended?

Allergy drops are recommended for patients who don’t want to receive allergy shots or find that frequent visits to the office are inconvenient. Allergy drops can be helpful if you have a busy schedule or travel frequently out of town.

Dr. Geller and Dr. Chan may not recommend allergy drops if you experience anaphylactic shock when exposed to allergens, though they can be used for mild-to-moderate allergic symptoms. In most cases, you’ll need to continue taking allergy drops for 3-5 years to develop a tolerance. The doctors also follow up with you regularly to ensure that the allergy drops are working properly and you’re developing immunity.

To find out if allergy drops are right for you, call or book a consultation online at the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Medical Group.