How the Peak in Allergies of Teens and Young Adults Translates into Future Allergic Reactions

Unfortunately, if you experienced allergies as a teen or young adult, you won’t necessarily outgrow them. Allergies can be lifelong, and cases can vary from one person to the next. This is why visiting an allergy specialist like Dr. Jamie Kratz can be helpful in determining the best treatment for your case. 

Here, we’ll discuss how allergies in your teenage and young adult years can translate into future allergic reactions. Whether or not you’ll experience allergic reactions to certain triggers can be unpredictable, but many treatment options are available to help you manage allergy symptoms. 

Allergies: A Natural Immune Response

When you have an allergic reaction, your immune system is reacting to a perceived threat. The immune system may identify some harmless substances, like pet dander and pollen, as threats, leading to various allergy symptoms. This means that the immune system is overly sensitive in regard to certain substances. 

Allergic Reactions Later in Life

The majority of patients who experience allergies as an adult also had allergies in their youth. If you do have allergies as an adult, but weren’t diagnosed with them at a younger age, you may have had allergies as a kid or teenager that you simply don’t remember or the symptoms were mild enough to go unnoticed.

Chronic Allergies

As aforementioned, some people grow out of the allergies that they had as children. In other cases, however, allergies may remain into older age. Allergy symptoms often get less intense with age, likely because the immune system gets weaker over time and won’t produce as strong of a reaction to a substance. Others, however, experience worsening allergies with age. This could be due to the development of new allergies. An allergic reaction can become more severe if it’s the result of multiple allergy triggers, instead of just one. You may be more likely to develop a new allergy if you’re exposed to the allergen while you’re sick. 

For allergy testing, diagnosis, and treatment, schedule an appointment with Kratz Allergy & Asthma today.