SAAT is a technique developed by Dr. Nader Soliman M.D, which utilizes muscle testing with homeopathy alongside auricular (in the ear) acupuncture to determine what a patient’s allergies are, if they have MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, which causes an allergy to one’s own histamine and causes high levels of inflammation), and to eradicate the body’s production of antibodies that are causing the patient’s uncomfortable symptoms. Successful treatment with the SAAT technique may completely eradicate a patient’s allergy symptoms long-term.
At your first appointment, Dr. Molly will conduct an intake to discuss suspected or diagnosed allergies and how they affect you. You will complete muscle testing to determine whether or not you have MCAS and to confirm your specific allergies, and if present, MCAS will be treated alongside 7-8 other allergens or sensitivities. Subsequent visits will be scheduled every 4 weeks until your allergies are eradicated.
SAAT allergy treatments are not covered by insurance, but generally require only one treatment per about 6-10 allergens. For simple cases, the initial treatment and a short followup may be all that is necessary. In cases involving many allergens, one may need more treatments in order to address them all, however sometimes patients find allergies decrease on their own with the treatment of MCAS.
At each round, SAAT needles will stay in for 3-4 weeks. They stay in for four weeks when we are addressing MCAS with MCAS Autoantibodies, or when we are treating Alpha Gal.
After your needles are inserted, Dr. Molly will apply three layers of surgical grade adhesive including a liquid adhesive and a medical tape. Typically, if you do not touch them and follow the directions that will be given to you at your treatment, they will stay put for the duration of the treatment, however if a needle comes out or the adhesive starts to come loose, you can call our office to schedule a free SAAT adjustment. We will do our best to work with you to ensure you get through the whole month!
It is advised you not submerge your head in water during your SAAT treatment. While it is okay to shower, do take care not to run water directly over your ear. Please plan ahead and if you may need to have an MRI done, schedule your SAAT treatment after, as you cannot have an MRI while SAAT needles are in your ear. If you have an emergency and need an unplanned MRI, your SAAT needles will need to come out (which is easily done with tweezers). We will of course redo your treatment for you in the case of emergencies where needles had to be removed.
It is common for the first few days after treatment to experience a heightened sensitivity to whatever you are being treated for. Some patients feel perfectly fine after SAAT, but it would not be uncommon to experience symptoms such as rashes, joint aching, runny nose or stomach upset, to name a few examples. SAAT will not push you to the point of anaphylaxis if you are not already there, but we do recommend you pay close attention to avoid your allergens until SAAT is completed, but particularly for the first few days.
While SAAT can be done in theory on anybody, Dr. Molly strongly recommends that for kids, you consider their temperament and ability to not touch their ear for 4 weeks as this is necessary for the treatment to be successful. We care about your investment in SAAT, and want this to be successful! Dr. Molly has successfully treated kids as young as 6 years old who seemed unfazed, and also, kids who are ten have seemed intolerant of the process of having needles stuck in their ear. While most would not say SAAT is a very painful process, it is admittedly a bit of an annoying one. Dr. Molly works fast and efficiently to get this done as quickly but precisely as possible. It should be noted that usually for kids, Dr. Molly treats about 6 allergens instead of 10. If the patient is fine with going farther, Dr. Molly is happy to do so.
While it is helpful if you have at least a general idea of what is causing your allergens, we can use muscle testing to narrow it down. The way muscle testing works is blood that is circulating around the periphery of your body (arms and legs), when your body is exposed to a potential allergen (in this case via homeopathy), will navigate to the center of your body in order to protect your vital organs. This results in a temporary weakening of your arms while we are testing, and an involuntary easy pushdown of the arm where it would not have lost strength prior to exposure to the allergen.
In theory yes, however, we find that addressing more than 10 allergies starts to become uncomfortable and can lead to issues keeping the needles in, and for this reason, we generally do not needle more than 10 per treatment. At your first appointment, we assess for MCAS and MCAS Autoantibodies which is treated with one needle each if they are present. We always treat these when present, as doing so will reduce inflammation systemically and reduce overall sufferability of allergies patients experience. We also test for allergies to stainless steel and adhesives, as both of these are used in the treatment, so if an allergy is present, they must be addressed.
For pet allergies such as cat and dog allergies, we assess for allergies to hair, dander, urine and saliva and treat them each separately when they come up as positive. Similarly for seasonal allergies, we need to be specific, and so, most patients are not able to treat multiple categories of allergies in just one SAAT treatment. While it is ultimately your choice, most of our patients opt to tackle categories of allergens such as food, Spring allergies, Fall allergies, Molds, pets, etcetera, one or two at a time, depending on the complexity of the allergen.
Alas, Alpha Gal cases are ever-increasing in the DMV and it appears to be here to stay. Thankfully, Annapolis Family Acupuncture has everything that is needed to address Alpha Gal! As Alpha Gal is a complex allergen, we recommend most patients prepare to do about 2-3 rounds of SAAT in order to address every facet of this allergy. Additionally, a homeopathic spray is recommended to eradicate the autoantibodies that are produced by the body when it develops this autoimmune condition.
SAAT is capable of eradicating a gluten allergy, but the inflammation in the Small Intestine associated with Celiac Disease would be better addressed with Auricular Medicine, which Dr. Molly also offers separate from SAAT.
If after your SAAT treatment you are still reactive, we will recommend you come in for further muscle testing. If you are still muscle testing positive to an allergen Dr. Molly treated within the last year, she will happily retreat the allergen in question. Oftentimes however, it turns out there is a further allergen that needs to be addressed. For example, pet allergies are often complicated by molds and pollens they carry in their fur, and seasonal allergies can be very vast and it may be necessary to muscle test and narrow down specific pollens that are causing your symptoms. We will always do our best to get you the best results possible!
Yes! SAAT is effective even for your anaphylactic allergies. However, while we encourage testing of allergens that are not anaphylactic, for ethical reasons, we will not recommend you test anaphylactic allergies. We will muscle test to ensure the treatment worked, however for most with anaphylaxis, this is meant to be an added layer of protection and to provide peace of mind.
A new patient SAAT appointment costs $400. There are two homeopathic sprays that address MCAS and MCAS Autoantibodies that may be necessary if we discover you have MCAS and each of these is $90. A followup with additional allergens is $300. A followup without additional allergens where we confirm the treatments have worked and will also retreat anything that needs it for any reason is $100. While it is hard to say exactly how many treatments you may need, most patients need 2-3 SAAT appointments. In more complex cases where we are addressing panels of food allergies and seasonal allergies and pet allergies, a patient may need as many as five or more appointments to eradicate all their allergies, however AFA will do our best to do this as efficiently as possible. You are also welcome to space your treatments out; since results are not temporary, it makes no difference if you do your second panel a month later or several months later.
You can call 667-204-2979 to chat with Dr. Molly! You may be able to schedule a free 15 minute consultation online, however as she books out quite far in advance, we recommend you call the office to schedule this, as we are often able to schedule manually at the end of her workday.
Book a Free 15-minute Consultation with Dr. Molly by calling 667-204-2979 or emailing info@annapolisfamilyacupuncture.com