Making allergies go away

By Patricia Nugent

Think you’ve been hearing more sneezes and sniffles lately? Well, chances are you have.

The number of Americans suffering from allergies and asthma has nearly tripled since Dr. Barry Lampl founded his practice, Allergy Diagnostics, 25 years ago.

He reports it’s tough to pinpoint the reason for the serious spike in both inherited and environmental allergies and asthma.

“The good news is, they are fairly simple to diagnose and treat,” he says.

Painless and quick, an allergy assessment, or prick test, involves placing tiny pinpricks to the forearm. When the allergy is detected, the diagnosis is clear.

“Although there are numerous over-the-counter allergy treatments, they are only about 40 percent effective,” he cautions. “Often people treat allergy symptoms with a Band-Aid instead of pinpointing and addressing the allergy itself. By ignoring the cause of the symptoms, they may become more severe over time.”

Immunotherapy has come a long way over the years, and this is Dr. Lampl’s specialty. The protocol involves administering trace amounts of the substance the patient is allergic to through tiny, pain-free injections once a week until the person reaches a point where they only require maintenance shots.

The protocol takes place in one of Dr. Lampl’s convenient office locations.

“Every day I see patients improve,” he says. “Making allergies, asthma and skin conditions go away can dramatically change a patient’s quality of life.”

For instance, he mentions studies that have shown students’ test scores go down and workers are not as productive in the workplace during peak allergy seasons, and also mentions that patients who consistently lose sleep because of their symptoms suffer needlessly.

Allergy Diagnostics has locations in Fairlawn, Mentor, Strongsville, Beachwood, Westlake and Parma. They welcome patients ages six and up. Call 330-836-9232 to make an appointment, or visit AllergyDiagnostics.com to find out more.