Allergies bad? New therapy available only in Austin

(AUSTIN, TX, October 13, 2019) -- A new allergy treatment available only in Austin is promising big relief.

It’s called ExACT Immunoplasty and includes three shots over a 60 day period. Aspire Allergy and Sinus, which used to be Texan Allergy & Sinus Center, is behind the new therapy.

It can treat allergies including grass, ragweed, and cedar. The treatment includes a shot of diluted allergen into a lymph node in the upper thigh.

“We can put exactly what we want when we’re injecting those lymph nodes with the ultrasound,” explained Dr. Christopher Thompson with Aspire Allergy & Sinus. “That’s why we think it’s so fast, why in 60 days we can give you the equivalent of five years of therapy.”

Dr. Thompson says patients tell him it’s less painful than getting blood drawn.

Mike Exterkamp was looking for relief from grass and ragweed. He wrapped up his treatment two weeks ago.

“I noticed the biggest one was after the second shot, and that’s when I was able to control everything with over-the-counter medicines,” said Exterkamp. “For allergy sufferers, this is going to be a game-changer.”

Exterkamp says his allergies were debilitating, so when he heard about the therapy over the summer, he decided to try it out.

“If you’re as bad as I was, which is actually physically ill, then when pollen count goes high you just stay inside or you get sick,” explained Exterkamp.

Dr. Thompson says this therapy can treat up to three allergies at a time and this could eliminate allergies for good. The treatment costs $2500 and is not covered by insurance yet.

Earlier this year Aspire launched a study with 26 patients. Dr. Thompson says the patients didn’t have any side effects.

“A lot of us don’t really want to take the time to do three to five years of therapy, even though we know it works. It’s hard to be consistent with anything like that,” said Dr. Thompson. “This is going to change all of that in 60 days.”

Dr. Thompson says the solution is FDA-approved, but the delivery of the medication is not yet. He says the treatment is patent pending.

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