Do you sneeze after dusting your home? Perhaps your eyes get watery after battling in the sand during the summer. Or maybe your skin starts to itch after eating a particular type of food.

Fortunately for you, science takes away the guesswork through allergy testing. You can only be sure about your allergies, the necessary treatments, and how to avoid them after testing for the suspected allergies.

In this piece, we will discuss some of the most reliable allergy tests and compare them to find the best.

Skin prick test

Skin prick test is arguably one of the most common allergy tests administered and the preferred testing method of all. They are believed to be the most accurate and inexpensive way to test for allergies. Skin prick tests provide results within a short span of about twenty minutes.

Your allergist will ask you to stretch your arm, or in some cases, the backside may be more suitable for the skin prick test.

The allergist then places a small drop of the suspected allergens on the skin and begins to prick the skin’s surface with a needle.

You may test three to twenty-five allergens until your allergist confirms the exact allergen that seems to trigger the violent reactions.

If you are allergic to a particular substance, your doctor will observe your reactions that may appear in the form of redness, itchiness, or swelling within fifteen minutes.

What to expect from results

The skin prick test can be carried out on anyone, including babies. Your results from the skin prick test may suggest:

• Positive results don’t diagnose allergies.
• Positive skin prick tests don’t determine the degree of severity of allergic reactions.
• Negative tests don’t necessarily mean that you aren’t allergic to the substance. You could be testing negative from taking antihistamines before the allergy test.

What if you test negative despite having a history of allergies?

In some cases, you may test negative to different allergens even though you’ve had a history of allergies in the past.

Your allergist may recommend avoiding antihistamine drugs or any other medication for at least a week and return for another skin prick test.

However, if the results are urgently needed, you may proceed and undergo intradermal skin testing. This type of test involves injecting a diluted allergen extract into the upper layer of the skin with a needle.

Coupled with the skin prick test, your allergist may come up with a conclusive result as to whether or not you are allergic to a substance…
 
Continue reading the article and learn more about allergies on my other blog jordan-clark.com.