I've found myself wondering if...

[Klingon]

  I cant' remember if someone has ever posted this before or something like it but...earlier I found myself wondering if a person without nasal allergies could somehow... for lack of better way to put it... "purposely reprogram their systems to become allergic to something." maybe for example by covering a Q-tip in ragweed pollen and using it to make themselves sneeze on a regular basis trying to use the irritation of the Q-tip rubbing on the nasal lining with the pollen covering to "make the body" begin to recognize the pollen as an irritant or in a sense program it to become allergic to the pollen that way. for myself I'm not convinced that such a thing could be done and I think anyone doing so would be dumb to do so but... what do you all think is it possible could something like that be done? is it just an idea that could never happen? or is it something that could actually be done possibly? I know some people with allergies have tried the opposite to reprogram themselves not to be allergic by spending time near stuff they were allergict to in the hopes the body would stop reacting and am not sure if it ever worked for them but...

 

[sneezysunshine]

Hm it's an interesting thought! From what I know about how our immune system works, it perhaps could be possible?? Like, if you spend a lot of time close to an irritant, you can end up becoming allergic to it, that's a real thing. My mom developed an allergies to rats and mice when she worked in a lab doing animal tests on those types of animals, and the same goes for other types of chemicals were people can develop a sensitivity to them. I don't know if it would end up leading to allergic responses such as sneezing though. 

Like, allergies are based upon our own immune system producing antibodies that trigger an immune response from us, making our body think the allergen is dangerous to us when it's not. The more time you expose yourself to an allergen, I guess the possibility of you having an allergic reaction or become sensitive to that specific allergen would increase, since it's more likely that your body would turn on you and treat it like it's dangerous that first time that it takes for it to cause a problem. Not foolproof, but like it probably could happen??