Allergy symptoms are caused when your body produces excessive amounts of antibodies when you come into contact with allergens. Immunotherapy is designed to help your immune system build protective antibodies to the various allergens for which you are being treated. These protective antibodies reduce your body’s allergic reactions when you come in contact with an allergen.

Allergen immunotherapy is given using injections by your doctor or healthcare provider. Injections are usually administered weekly for several months, and then every two weeks and then every three weeks until you have reached your maximum symptom-relieving dose and are on a monthly schedule. After your symptoms have been controlled for a specified period of time, you may be able to stop immunotherapy. Patients are carefully monitored to make sure symptoms do not reappear. If symptoms do reappear, therapy is restarted.

Although immunotherapy is not a cure for all patients with allergies, it is a highly effective way to relieve allergy symptoms for the majority of patients. You can learn more about the benefits of immunotherapy by talking to a physician who specializes in treating allergies.