The third form of treatment is allergy desensitization. In our office, we skin test patients to the common pollens, dust and molds in our area. These tests are scratched on the back and are much more accurate than blood tests for allergies. For people who want to correlate their symptoms with our local pollen counts you can read our Pollen Report on the weather page of The Desert Sun. Allergic people often are sensitive to more than one substance.
Allergens enter the body in one of three ways.
Airborne particles such as pollen, dust and mold spores are breathed in through the nose and mouth Insect venom is injected through stingers Foods are ingested, or swallowed. Medicines that can cause allergic reactions are injected or ingested. More than half of all allergy sufferers fails to recognize their symptoms at first, falsely believing they have a cold or the flu. An estimated 50 to 60 million Americans have allergies. About one of every five people suffer from allergies.