Allergy and Asthma Care in Torrance, CA

With inhalant or environmental allergies, the body's immune system tends to overreact to airborne allergens, triggering an immune response upon exposure. However, research has shown that controlled exposures to the same allergen beneath the skin can lead to a significant improvement in allergy symptoms with much less medication use. When performing inhalant allergy desensitization, Dr. Modena employs a technique that involves the administration of micro-doses of the specific allergen responsible for your symptoms directly under the skin over time.

This approach allows the body to gradually build resistance to the allergen, ultimately leading to a reduction in the immune system's response when exposed to the allergen in the air. The positive effects of this treatment typically become noticeable within two to three months of starting treatment, offering individuals relief from their allergy symptoms, improving fatigue, congestion, drainage, sneezing and itching and reducing the dependency on medications.

Sneezing, red and itchy eyes, runny nose? You think it could be something in the air, but what? Your dog, the neighbor's cat, or your lawn? Getting a skin prick test, also known as a scratch or skin prick test, can help to determine exactly what's causing your allergy symptoms before determining a path towards treatment. Learning more about your allergens should also be the first step. Avoidance of your allergen(s) can lead to fewer, less severe symptoms and a better daily quality of life without medication.

For environmental allergy diagnosis and identification of the culprit allergen, you should have a full panel of testing that includes all the tree, grass, and weed pollens that are unique to your geographical area. This type of testing and expert interpretation is typically only available by skin testing with our Torrance Allergist.

Patch testing is a specialized diagnostic method aimed at identifying allergies that lead to allergic contact dermatitis or skin inflammation. This condition can be triggered by a variety of substances, such as the scents and preservatives in many of the lotions, shampoos, fragrances, cosmetics, sunscreens, and other products.

You may be using these products as part of your daily routine, or even to treat the rash, and unknowingly making the problem worse. In fact, many of the “all-natural” skin care products may contain the same preservatives that cause allergic reactions. Further, the plant products in these all-natural branded products are notorious for causing allergic contact dermatitis. Poison ivy is all-natural but notoriously causes allergic contact dermatitis by oily resin called urushiol. As an example, beeswax is in many all-natural products and chapstick, but the resin-like material made from bees from the buds of poplar and cone-bearing trees, called propolis, is a very common cause of allergic contact allergy, particularly around the mouth.

These substances, whether derived from the lab or in nature, may cause an allergic reaction upon contact with the skin. Providers at Modena Health utilize the North American Contact Dermatitis patch test series as a valuable tool that can pinpoint the specific allergens that have the most significant impact on your skin. By identifying these allergens, you can take proactive measures to avoid them, and in the event of contact, you can develop a plan to minimize symptoms. Your skin deserves the best care possible, and we're here to help you achieve that.

Immunity has become an industry with terms like "immune-boosting" on many supplements and food and beverages that are marketed as "great for your immunity" on shelves everywhere. In medical terms, “immune deficiency” means a deficit or problem with the immune system that leads to or causes repeated and severe infections from common pathogens, but also opportunistic infections, like molds or other intracellular organisms that typically don’t bother other people. Thus, immune deficiencies cause issues through repeated and severe infections.

Currently, there are more than 270 primary immune deficiencies that have been identified through genetic testing. Patients with immune deficiency tend to be sick more often or more severely, and also tend to suffer from autoimmune disease. Allergy Immunologists are the specialists that are the experts in diagnosing and treating immune disorders.