Allergy Practice

About Our Allergy Practice

Dr. Bauer was trained in allergy practice at Boston University. Secondary to struggles in obtaining allergy care for their patients outside of the DFW metro and struggles finding appropriate care for his patients with severe eustachian tube dysfunction, he decided to integrate allergy care into his practice in 2020. Dr. Bauer completed advanced training through the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy and completed their written and oral boards in 2020 to become a Fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy.

Our focus is on the treatment of environmental allergies and how this impacts the outcomes after Ear, Nose or Throat surgery. Chronic ear disease is an example where this approach can make a difference. Many, but not all, children outgrow ear infections by 2-3 years of age. Unfortunately, some children continue to struggle with eustachian tube dysfunction that may lead to ear drum perforations, cholesteatomas, hearing loss and subsequently the need for major ear surgeries. The eustachian tube is the small tube that connects the back of the nose up and into the ear. You feel this tube function every time your ear pops. That popping sound is the tube opening in the back of the nose and allowing air to quickly flow up into the ear. Most middle ear disease is caused by the eustachian tube not functioning properly. There are a limited number of treatments to improve the function of the eustachian tube. These treatments include, removal of the adenoids, immunotherapy to control environmental allergies, and balloon dilation of the eustachian tube(s). More aggressively controlling or curing allergies through immunotherapy leads to better outcomes for our patients with ear disease.

Because our practice only treats children, our approach to allergy testing and treatment is different than what you might otherwise encounter. We prefer to do skin testing on the patient’s forearms. We have learned that when a child cannot see what is going on, as in the case of testing on the back, this often leads to anxiety for the child regardless of the actual level of pain. We can routinely test children down to the age of 4 without discomfort to the child. The primary complaint after allergy testing is that the sites are “very itchy”.

We also deal with children from all over the DFW metro as well as sites well beyond the metro. Traditional allergy shots for immunotherapy are often not practical for these families. Not to mention, many of our families within the metro that have very busy schedules, a weekly trip for an allergy shot is not an option. Our practice often utilizes allergy drops or sublingual tablets that families can administer themselves at home. This drastically limits the number of visits to our office, while providing a clinically effective means of controlling allergies for most patients.