Offering Allergy Testing in the Washington Metro Area

Functional Medicine for Families and Gynecology offers allergy testing in the Washington metro area. This procedure is virtually painless and takes approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Completing this test involves a small allergy applicator filled with allergens specific to the geographical region being applied to the skin to abrade or scratch it. This causes a local reaction and reveals sensitivity to these specific allergens.

The body’s immune system normally protects the individual against harmful substances, such as bacteria and viruses, and reacts to less harmful foreign substances called allergens. For most people, these allergens do not cause problems. However, to a person with allergies, the immune response is oversensitive.

An allergy is an exaggerated immune response to an otherwise benign foreign substance. One in every five Americans suffers from food, environmental, or chemical allergies. These allergies have been proven to contribute to many health issues patients suffer from daily.

Traditionally, doctors will prescribe medication—an antihistamine—to suppress the reactions to an allergen. In addition, they may use weekly injections of pollen, dust, and mold allergy treatments. Unfortunately, these drugs can cause their own set of side effects, such as:

At Functional Medicine for Families and Gynecology, we use allergy immunotherapy instead. Immunotherapy is the desensitizing phase of allergens that patients show a reaction to during an allergy test. The allergens are introduced into the system in very small increments. The immune system then creates antibodies against these allergens to produce desensitization. With allergy immunotherapy, patients can benefit without constantly using antihistamines and other medications.