Whether you experience the congestion of seasonal allergies or deal with food allergies in your daily life, there’s a TikTok influencer for you.
The social media platform has sprouted numerous doctor and patient influencers across countless diseases and specialties, including a handful of allergists who are also making a name for themselves serving as experts on the platform.
There are also plenty of patient influencers who guide their audiences through their daily life of managing food or seasonal allergies.
Here are some of the top allergy influencers on TikTok.
Dr. Zachary Rubin
When searching for “allergy” or “allergist” on TikTok, almost all of the initial videos that pop up fall under one name: Dr. Rubin, or @rubin_allergy, as he calls himself on the site.
Dr. Zachary Rubin is perhaps the most notable allergy influencer on TikTok.
He’s a pediatrician, allergist and immunologist who built a large following of more than 1 million followers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he began posting videos debunking myths and misinformation around the virus.
Now, he provides expert commentary on various health trends and questions that circulate on the site — while also finding ways to incorporate as much allergy information as he can.
In one video, Rubin breaks down his least favorite allergy medications, while in another, he explains how not everyone who thinks they may have a penicillin allergy actually has one.
Wearing colorful bowties and glasses, Rubin has a signature look in his videos as he breaks down medical information for his audience.
It’s part of his goal to help doctors be more relatable to their audiences, he said in an interview with the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI).
“It feels good to share information that members of the public may not know,” Rubin told AAAAI. “While I posted that video about how most people with a penicillin allergy label are not truly allergic on National Penicillin Allergy Day, the video is still watched daily. It’s funny how social media can work, and that important information can continue to be viewed and shared for a long time to help educate the public.”
Dr. Amiirah Aujnarain
Dr. Amiirah Aujnarain is another physician influencer who specializes in allergy and immunology. As a pediatrician at Kindercare Pediatrics, Aujnarain brings her perspective to her more than 70,000 followers on TikTok, where she goes by the handle @doctoramiirah.
In one video, Aujnarain breaks down “what to expect” during an allergy skin test, when a doctor places small samples of different allergens onto a patient’s skin to examine possible reactions.
“The way it works is, initially we’re applying that in order to put droplets of everything you’re allergic to,” she explained in the video. “After that they’re going to test whatever things you’re curious about. For example, if you have anaphylactic food allergies, you might test something like peanuts, eggs, fish. If you’re more interested to see if you have environmental allergies, [that would be] like grass, trees, dust, cats, dogs.”
Aujnarain also makes content about how she has suffered from allergies herself, and offers relatable advice to her followers.
Aspire Allergy
While Aspire Allergy may not be an individual doctor influencer — they’re an allergy clinic with multiple team members posting videos — they have built up a following with the goal of “helping allergy sufferers.”
In one video, a physician with Aspire Allergy breaks down the differences between common colds and allergies. “Number one, aches and pains and fever are never allergies,” he explains. “We don’t see those symptoms with allergies — only with infections. Number two, infections last about seven to 10 days. Allergies can last for weeks and months. Number three, itchy and watery eyes are much more common for allergies compared to infections.”
The doctor then adds that antihistamines don’t always work for everyone — but there are other options that work, like allergy drops and shots.
In another video, Aspire Allergy explains some of the side effects of antihistamines.
Finally, Aspire Allergy tackles the questions that really matter — such as whether hypoallergenic dogs exist and what breeds are the best?
Shiv Sewlal
In September, TikToker Shiv Sewlal posted a video that went viral.
She showed herself developing a severe allergic reaction to something that had resulted in her eyes swelling up. In the video, she films herself going to the doctor as her face gets puffier and redder. The doctor then advises her to use an adrenaline pen.
After getting treated, Sewlal recovered — but the video gained more than 26 million views, 2.2 million likes and more than 20,000 comments on TikTok. One commenter encapsulated the main takeaway: “Please never delay going to the hospital or using your epi pen!”
Since then, Sewlal has been documenting her journey with allergies, eczema and asthma, posting videos about what she eats in a day with plenty of food allergies.
In one video, she points out that she has over 40 allergies that she has to keep in mind when eating. In another, she shows how she has to bring her allergy-friendly food to the club in case she stays over at her friend’s place overnight.
Megan Lavin
If you want to learn allergy-friendly recipes and to “live an awesome life with multiple food allergies,” Megan Lavin, who goes by @allergyawesomeness on TikTok, is the influencer to follow.
Lavin has gathered more than 23,000 followers posting about dairy- and gluten-free meals, as well as showing what it’s like to be the parent of a child with allergies.
Mia, the “allergic girl”
If you thought 40 food allergies was a lot, enter Mia — who has 50. Known as @theallergicgirl on TikTok, Mia has built up an audience giving glimpses into her daily life of managing all her allergies.
Sometimes, she’ll post her skincare routine — curated to avoid any potential allergens — or film her process in the grocery store to find allergy-safe snacks.
Danielle Price
Danielle Price has several severe food allergies, including peanuts and hazelnuts. However, that hasn’t stopped her from seeking treatment for the issue.
In a viral video posted last year, Price noted that it was her first day of severe peanut allergy desensitization — a therapy that involves exposing people with allergies to extremely tiny amounts of the allergen so their immune systems can learn to handle them over time.
Price takes her viewers into the doctor’s office with her while she asks questions, offering a close-up view of living with — and treating — a severe food allergy.
