Top 10 Questions

1. I go to doctors at Sanford, Essentia, or other clinics around the area, can I be seen in your clinic?

Yes, any patients can be seen in any clinic. Call your insurance company or our secretary  701-232-8788, to find out if you are required by your insurance plan for a referral. Some do not. If you need one, you can get one, and it may take more paper work, something we can help you with.

If your clinic cannot see you right away, or if they do not have an allergy, asthma, or immunology specialist, are reasons why you should ask for a referral. It is your right. Many allergy and asthma sufferers are seen here for a 2nd opinion, and want to do something different from what they are doing for their condition.

2.  I have BC BS ND, can I be evaluated and treated in your clinic?

Yes.  Call our office and we can give you more details.  BC BS ND patients may be eligible for a discount.

3.  Do you take Medica,  BC BS MN, and other insurance companies?

Yes we see all patients , and we participate in your healht care.  Call our office and we can help answer your insurance questions and needs.

4.  How old do you have to be, for an allergy evaluation?

Patients of any age can and should be seen for an allergy evaluation if there is a question at all of an allergy mechanism causing a problem. If you feel you or your child have an allergy problem, often times, a visit to a board certified allergy, asthma, and immunology doctor will help.

We work closely with all area health care providers and your family doctors in evaluating and treating you in allergy related conditions.  The more important part of the evaluation is the history, physical examination, family history, review of systems, and some may or may not need additional evaluation like lab, skin, or radiological tests.

3. When should I see an allergy and asthma specialist?

If you have a question whether you have these conditions, rule in or rule out, are good reasons. If you do have allergic rhinitis, hay fever, or asthma that is not under control the way you want it to be, then something is not right, and a specialist can help.

4. My family doctor treats me for my allergy and asthma, why do I have to see a specialist?

It has been shown by studies that a board certified allergy doctor can better treat these conditions than primary care doctors. We often work closely with your family doctors to help you. There are many treatment options and tools we offer, primary care cannot.

For example, allergy shots, asthma education, and time to explain your condition.

We also have a brand new computerized pulmonary function assessment of your condition called exhaled nitric oxide from Aerocrine, an FDA approved machine that can tell us to what extent is inflammation form conditions such as allergic causes in the airways exist. It will help us determine how much more or less treatment say from steroids are needed.

No other clinic in North, South Dakota has this, and only the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has this machine as of today, July 2005.

5. Are there other treatment options besides medicines?

Yes! We provide extensive information on avoidance measures, by first identifying the allergy or irritant relevant to you, which if implemented regularly, will help decrease symptoms and minimize medicine use.

Allergy shots or vaccines are effective for many of my patients. If what you are doing now is not working, or even if you are receiving allergy shots we can discuss other alternative approaches. For example, allergy shots where you give yourself at home and adjust your dose is based on the Rinkel procedure. This form of shots do not have a therapeutic dosing reported in the literature, and is often why they do not work.

Xolair, a vaccine or shot, for allergic asthma is a newer approach and has helped several of my patients.

6. Do I have to use medicines like steroids all the time?

Yes and no for some of my patients, during a given period of time. For most of my patients, during the pollen season, for some in winter. It just depends on the person themselves, and everyone is different. Used at the right place, time, dose, and circumstance, steroids are very helpful. We will talk to you about the benefits and risk.

Our new machine from Aerocrine described above will help us determine the need for steroids.

7. Do allergy shots work and is it for me?

They work for the vast majority of patients. In some allergy, allergy shots or vaccines are the best options. It takes time, dedication, and understanding of your condition, and knowing, as well as trusting the treatment method.

Some of my patients are on shots, some are not, it depends on your circumstance. If you have been using medicines from your doctor and it is not working, vaccines or shots may be an option for you.

8. Are there new ways of treating allergy and asthma in your clinic?

Yes, we bring in our clinic, the latest evidence based approach in our treatment. We actually do some of the clinical research trials for new and upcoming medicines.

For example, Xolair is new and helps more allergic asthma patients. We are also in the forefront of innovation in computers and the internet, in helping allergy sufferers. Something you notice because you are reading this, and can see other pages on this web site.

Certain medicines for allergic rhinitis are also being studied in our office.

9. How do I know if my allergy, hay fever, asthma are actually improved?

We are using computer technology that no one is using to help track this information. You actually see your results of your allergy and asthma questionnaires right away and have a comparison from previous times, graphed and explained to you during your visit. We will print it out for you, a summary of your visit and plans of what to do for your condition. It will help you remember what we talked about, and what to do in the future. It will be available secure and private, with HIPAA approved guidelines, on our internet with your private user name and password.

You will be able to communicate in this environment via e mail and our internet for quick and simple questions we can deal with. If not, we will ask you to be seen in person in the clinic.

10.  How do you treat hay fever or allergies?

With simple methods:  avoid the allergy as best as you can, although this can be very difficult.  We can’t avoid mother nature but we can live with her.  Most of my patients would rather get rid of me before they get rid of their beloved pets-joking ly of course, but true.  Some do not treat their allergies and do not see any one.  Some just need anti histamines-not every day.  Most benefit from nasal steroids.  Many benefit from conventional allergy shots.

11.  How about sub lingual allergy drops or treatment?

They are not yet approved for use by the FDA and those who get them, pay out of pocket.  We have been doing many clinical trials prior to approval of this method of immunotherapy, and we are excited and hopeful of it’s use in the future.

12.  I saw other doctors and allergist before, and results of my test and evaluation are different.  Why is that?

We follow standardized practice guidelines in the evaluation and treatment of allergy that is recommended by our parent organizations.  When others practitioners do not follow a set of guidelines, or use different ones, more than likely their results will be different from ours.