Your Body Knows
If you’ve spent every spring sneezing or every fall dreading ragweed season, you’re not alone. Dr. Paul Bergstrand, a family medicine physician at Alomere Health has spent decades helping patients get to the root of what’s actually making them miserable.
One of the first steps Dr. Bergstrand takes with allergy patients is skin testing. “We refine the protein from trees, weeds, molds, grasses, and the things that are known to irritate people. Then we gently press them onto your skin.” If your body reacts to a pollen or mold in the outside world, it typically reacts to it in your skin, too. A small hive, a mosquito bite-sized welt appears—pointing directly at the offender. “Your body is showing us what it doesn’t like,” Dr. Bergstrand says.
That information identifies what things to avoid and what medications make sense. Knowing which allergens are your problem makes it possible to plan.
Allergies Can Trigger Asthma
For many people, allergies mean a runny nose and itchy eyes. For others, the same immune response is more serious. “Asthma is an irritation that causes some swelling and spasm in the airways. And they go into a little tight spasm—people have a hard time breathing, they cough, they wheeze,” he explains.
Infection is often the biggest asthma trigger, but allergies run a close second. Even a small amount of airway inflammation has an outsized effect on breathing. A minor change in airway diameter doesn’t produce a minor change in airflow—it multiplies. The same principle works in reverse: a small amount of improvement makes a significant difference. Which is why treating the underlying allergy is so important.
Teaching the Body Not to Fight
When avoidance and medication aren’t enough, immunotherapy offers another path. The concept sounds counterintuitive: give patients small amounts of exactly what they’re allergic to, gradually increasing over time until the body stops treating it as a threat.
Dr. Berstrand uses a straight-forward analogy. Imagine a stray dog that shows up in your yard and looks threatening. You chase it away. It comes back. You chase it away again. Eventually, after enough low-stakes encounters, you realize it’s not dangerous—and you stop reacting. No drugs. No chemicals. Just the body learning to stand down. For Dr. Bergstrand, that’s the meaningful distinction.
His advice: think ahead. Winter is often a smart time to try allergy testing if your worst symptoms hit in spring or fall. If you’re currently miserable and want relief now, there are options for that too—nasal sprays, antihistamines, cortisone shots—but a longer-term plan is worth making when the season quiets down.
Dr. Paul Bergstrand and Paula Bergstrand with their growing family.
A Doctor Who Doesn’t Work
Dr. Bergstrand has been practicing family medicine in Alexandria since 1987. He sees patients across a wide range of conditions, and when asked about retirement, his answer is characteristically direct.
