Do Allergy Shots Work for Older Adults?

Doctors and patients have long assumed allergy shots aren't useful for older adults, but research shows that you're never too old for allergy shots.

An increasing number of people report they suffer from chronic allergies. Many Baby Boomers, born between l946 and l964, are plagued with stuffy and runny noses, itchy eyes, sneezing, and other allergy symptoms — as is the next aging group, Generation X.

Many people in those age groups, however, haven’t had immunotherapy (allergy shots). That’s because doctors, as well as patients, have long assumed allergy shots aren’t appropriate or useful for older folks. As you age, the likelihood of having one or more chronic diseases can make the management of allergies like allergic rhinitis (hay fever) a challenge, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

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Do allergy shots work for seniors?

Research has shown that allergy shots are not only appropriate for many older and middle-aged people with allergy symptoms, they can also offer dramatic relief. One study found allergy shots reduced symptoms in older people by over half after three years of therapy. What’s more, Baby Boomers treated with immunotherapy were able to decrease the amount of medication they took to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergies by 64 percent.

"It's important that allergy treatment methods commonly used in young people are also investigated for use in older patients," said Gailen Marshall, MD, PhD, who heads the division of clinical immunology and allergy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. "More and more allergists are expanding the age limit for allergy shots as the Baby Boomer generation enters their senior years."

Allergies are widespread

In all, more than 50 million Americans of all ages suffer from allergies each year. For many of them, spring is the season that brings the most sneezing, burning eyes, and asthma symptoms, as flowers and other plants thrive and spread pollen. But symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis also occur during summer and fall, depending on your allergy triggers, including pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds.

If you have perennial allergic rhinitis, you can have symptoms year-round. Sensitivity to house dust mites, animal dander, cockroaches, and mold spores can cause perennial allergic rhinitis.

How to treat allergies

For many people, over-the-counter medications relieve milder allergy symptoms. Others may need prescription-strength drugs. Allergy shots are another alternative, especially when allergy symptoms are chronic and impact your quality of your life.

First, an allergist performs skin and sometimes blood tests to identify specific things that cause your allergic reactions. If the results show you are selectively sensitive to several allergies, allergy shots can often reduce or even rid you of hay fever and other allergy symptoms.

Immunotherapy involves injections of gradually increasing doses of a substance, or allergen, that produces allergic symptoms. While the process takes multiple treatments over months to years, the results are an immune system that’s less reactive to allergy-causing substances you encounter in the future. Immunotherapy also reduces the inflammation that’s associated with rhinitis and asthma, according to the ACAAI.

If allergy symptoms are bothersome, talk to your doctor to see if you are a candidate for allergy shots. If you are allergic to pollen and other allergens, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences advises keeping your windows closed and using air conditioning during warmer months.

Avoid the outdoors, when possible, during the peak times when pollen counts are the highest, between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., and on hot and windy days.

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