How ENT Specialists Help with Allergies

Need help with seasonal allergies? You could see your primary care provider or an allergist. But when allergies affect your nose, throat, and respiratory tract, you’ll get exceptional, comprehensive care from ENT specialists.

If you’re struggling with allergies, you may turn to your primary care provider or an allergist, but you have another option.

You may be surprised to learn that ENT specialists are also fully trained to diagnose and treat allergies affecting the ear, nose, throat, and respiratory system. When you connect with our team at Michigan Avenue ENT, you can depend on comprehensive, high-quality allergy care.

Benefits of seeing an ENT specialist for allergies

Beyond providing comprehensive care for allergies, it makes sense to see an ENT specialist because allergy symptoms can mimic other ENT conditions. An ENT specialist can sort through your symptoms and determine the underlying cause, even if it’s a structural problem.

For example, you may not be sure if you have:

Allergies or a sinus infection

Both conditions can cause nasal congestion, headaches, and pressure around the eyes and cheeks.

Allergies or an ear problem

Seasonal allergies can affect the eustachian tubes, leading to ear symptoms. Or, you may have an ear-related problem triggered by allergies.

Allergies or throat irritation

Allergies like hay fever can lead to postnasal drip, causing a sore throat or cough. At the same time, allergy symptoms can be easily confused with those of a lingering throat infection or cold.

How ENT specialists diagnose allergies

Our ENT team reviews your symptoms and asks questions about lifestyle habits that may be associated with your allergies. We also do a thorough physical examination of the nasal passages, ears, and throat.

While we may narrow down the underlying cause based on your exam, we perform the same tests as allergy specialists to diagnose allergies, including:

Skin prick test

Skin prick tests can detect most allergens (the exact substance causing your allergy). We can also test for numerous allergens at the same time.

During a skin prick test, we place a small amount of allergen on your forearm. Then, we gently prick the skin, allowing the allergen to get below the surface.

You wait in the office for 15 minutes, then we check your skin to see if any of the allergens caused a red, itchy bump, indicating an allergy.

Patch testing

Patch testing identifies substances that cause an allergic response when they come into contact with your skin (contact allergens).

We apply multiple suspected allergens to an adhesive patch and then place it on your upper back. You wear the patch for at least three days before we check for a skin reaction.

Intradermal skin test

This diagnostic test is similar to the skin prick test, except we inject the allergen under your skin. You may need an intradermal skin test if you can’t have a skin prick test (due to a skin condition) or your skin prick test is negative, yet your symptoms suggest allergies.

How ENT specialists treat allergies

Our ENT team offers the same allergy treatments as those you’d expect from an allergy specialist. Plus, we offer tests you wouldn’t get from an allergist.

The primary treatments include:

Managing your environment

After we identify your allergen, we help you create a plan to avoid it as much as possible. Examples include keeping your windows closed, staying indoors when pollen counts are high, and frequently vacuuming or removing carpets.

Medications

We recommend a range of nasal sprays and pills to relieve your symptoms. You may get adequate relief with over-the-counter (OTC) medications such as antihistamines, decongestants, and intranasal corticosteroids.

If OTC products don’t help, we can prescribe more potent options or recommend medications like leukotriene modifiers, which block inflammatory chemicals that cause allergy symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing, and a stuffy nose.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy desensitizes your body by giving it a small amount of your allergen on a regular schedule. As your body becomes accustomed to the allergen, allergic reactions decrease significantly, and your symptoms improve.

While immunotherapy is highly effective and may eliminate all symptoms for some people, it’s a gradual process that typically requires 3-5 years of getting regular allergy shots or taking sublingual (under the tongue) medicine.

Sinus treatments

Allergies affecting your nose, like allergic rhinitis (hay fever), can cause inflammation in your nasal passages. This inflammation may contribute to or aggravate chronic sinusitis.

When your allergies are managed by an ENT specialist, you’ll get expert care for any sinus problems that arise, including issues that may worsen allergy symptoms, such as nasal polyps.

Call Michigan Avenue ENT today or request an appointment online to get exceptional care for allergies.