Serving Belleair
Allergy, Asthma & Sinus Care for Belleair
Ten minutes from the Bluffs, down West Bay Drive to Seminole Boulevard — specialist-level care for the asthma, sinus and skin problems that never quite got solved.
When the usual plan has stopped working
A lot of the Belleair patients we meet are not new to their condition. They have had the sinus surgery. They have been on the inhaler for eleven years. They have taken three rounds of antibiotics since Christmas and are told, kindly, that this is just their sinuses. They have had hives for four months that no one can explain.
That is the visit Sher Allergy Specialists is built for. Allergic conditions are immune system disorders, and an allergic or immune system evaluation is often the right next step when others’ efforts at diagnosing and treating have failed. We treat common, rare and mystifying conditions, and being told your problem is ordinary is not the same as having it solved.
Finding the part of the picture that was missing
Complex cases usually turn on information nobody has gathered yet. Our evaluation gathers it in one place:
Rhinoscopy
A flexible fiberoptic scope lets our physicians actually look at the nasal passages, back of the throat and larynx (voice box) — finding nasal polyps, a deviated septum or other fixed blockage, and evaluating chronic postnasal drip, sinusitis, chronic headaches and persistent cough. Dr. Sher is one of the nation’s leading Allergists specially trained in Rhinoscopy.
FeNO
A simple breath test that measures the amount of lung inflammation. It distinguishes an airway that is actively inflamed from one that is not — which changes what should be prescribed.
Spirometry
Lung function testing that measures how much air your lungs hold and how quickly you move it, and can be repeated after medication to measure whether treatment is working.
Comprehensive Skin & Blood Testing
Scratch/prick, intradermal and patch testing plus targeted blood work, so the trigger list is based on results rather than on what you have gradually come to suspect. At Sher Allergy Specialists, your allergy skin tests are personally measured and read by a physician or physician assistant, with physician oversight and interpretation, rather than simply recorded by a technician or medical assistant for later review.
Advanced treatment, including biologics
Biologic therapies are a newer class of allergy treatment recommended primarily for conditions that have not responded well to traditional treatment — asthma, nasal polyps, atopic dermatitis and chronic idiopathic hives. They work at the immune system level to prevent the inflammation causing the condition, and offer fewer office visits, fewer side effects than some traditional medications, and remarkably better disease control. Some biologics can be injected at home.
The biologic therapies currently offered here are Xolair for uncontrolled moderate to severe persistent asthma, chronic urticaria and food allergies, Dupixent for eczema, asthma and nasal polyps, Nucala for uncontrolled eosinophilic asthma, Fasenra for severe eosinophilic asthma, and Tezspire for asthma and nasal polyps.
They are not the first thing we reach for. Allergy shots remain the hallmark treatment for a wide range of allergies, are all-natural rather than medication, and are a uniquely powerful allergy therapy, working gradually on the allergic and asthmatic process itself rather than masking symptoms. Which route fits you depends on what the testing shows.
A board-certified specialist, not a hand-off
A board-certified Allergist/Immunologist is on site for every visit at Sher Allergy Specialists. Dr. Mandel R. Sher is board certified by the American Board of Allergy & Immunology and the American Board of Pediatrics, trained at Northwestern, Duke, Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Michigan, and is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. He contributes to peer-reviewed medical journals and serves on the asthma and respiratory committees of the American College and American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
Peers have named him “Best Doctor in America” and “Best Allergy and Immunology Specialist in Pinellas County.” He practices ten minutes from your house.
Dr. Johana Castro Wagner, Allergist/Immunologist, earned her medical degree at Universidad Central De Venezuela, completed her residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Texas, and trained under Dr. Sher in her fellowship at the University of South Florida Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. She leads the Sher Allergy Oral Immunotherapy Clinic for Food including Peanut Allergy and is fluent in Spanish and English.
The Belleair address problem, and the coast
Belleair covers more ground than the name suggests: the Town of Belleair on the bluff, Belleair Bluffs along Indian Rocks Road, and Belleair Beach and Belleair Shore out across the Belleair Causeway on the Gulf. All of them reach us the same easy way — West Bay Drive or Belleair Road east to Seminole Boulevard, then a short run south to the Largo Professional Center.
The causeway side has an extra variable. Gulf red tide blooms release irritants into the sea spray that can trigger coughing, throat irritation and wheezing, and they hit people with asthma hardest. If your worst weeks are the weeks the beach smells wrong, that is worth saying out loud at your visit — it belongs in an asthma action plan, and it is a reason to know whether your airway inflammation is controlled before bloom season, not during it.
Questions from Belleair patients
I have already had sinus surgery and I am still congested. What could an allergist add?
Surgery addresses structure; it does not address the immune response that keeps inflaming the tissue. Rhinoscopy shows us what the anatomy looks like now, testing shows what your immune system is reacting to, and treatment can then target the cause rather than the aftermath. Chronic sinusitis is frequently associated with allergic rhinitis or asthma.
Am I a candidate for a biologic like Dupixent or Xolair?
Possibly, but that is a decision made after evaluation, not before. Biologics are primarily for conditions that have not responded well to traditional treatment. We would want lung function, inflammation measurement and allergy testing on the table first so the choice is based on your disease and not on a commercial.
Can allergies really start in your sixties?
Yes. Asthma can begin at any age, and allergic conditions can appear at any point in life. Adults are frequently surprised by a first-time diagnosis, particularly after a move, a renovation, a new pet in the house, or a change in what is blooming around them.
Does red tide cause asthma?
It does not cause the disease, but the airborne irritants from a Gulf bloom are a well-recognized respiratory trigger, and people with asthma tend to feel them first and worst. The useful response is to have your asthma genuinely controlled and to have a plan in hand before a bloom, rather than reacting to a bad week.
How far is the office from Belleair Bluffs?
A few minutes. We are at 11200 Seminole Blvd #310 in the Largo Professional Center — east on West Bay Drive, south on Seminole Boulevard, with parking on site.
Bring us the problem nobody has solved
Call our friendly Sher Allergy team at 727-397-8557. Bring the history, the medication list and the frustration — we will start with listening and finish with a plan.
Largo Professional Center
11200 Seminole Blvd #310
Largo, FL 33778
Monday 8:00 - 5:00
Tuesday 9:00 - 6:00
Wednesday 8:00 - 5:00
Thursday 8:00 - 5:00
Friday 8:00 - 12:00