How to prepare child for allergy testing
Prepare Your Child for Allergy Testing
1-in-3 children have an allergy, however, many parents do not know it. Allergy testing is safe for children of all ages, but testing can make children anxious. Early allergy intervention has shown it can prevent children who have allergic rhinitis from getting asthma. Allergies can also lead to poor school attendance and even affect the quality of children’s play.
Some parents remember a severe version of an allergy test from their childhood, however, testing has evolved and is not painful. While the cause of allergies is not exactly known, allergies often run in families. This leads some parents to decide to get their child tested because they had allergies as a child.
A Pediatrician may also recommend the test if they see telltale signs of allergies. These signs include nasal congestion, runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, allergic “shiners” and itching of the nose, eyes or skin with no fever present. Many of our doctors are trained to treat children, as they are board certified in pediatrics as well as allergy/immunology.
Types of Allergy Testing:
Our allergists diagnose allergies in children with the combination of an allergy skin test or scratch test and patient medical history. Allergy skin testing involves a simple series of tiny scratches on the back using a small instrument similar to a small plastic toothpick. Each toothpick contains trace amounts of an allergen. We test for a variety of environmental allergens such as tree, weed, and grass pollen, as well as, pet dander and molds. If you have a specific allergen you would like to be tested for, please let our offices know when scheduling. After a nurse administers the test, reactions may take 15-20 minutes to appear. Typical reactions are mild and will cause a small, itchy bump like a mosquito bite.
An allergist reviews the reactions and determines if additional testing is needed. In these cases, intradermal testing may need to be done on the forearm to provide more detailed results.
During these tests, a small amount of the allergen is injected under the skin of the arm to see if it causes a reaction.
Another option is a blood test. This requires a simple blood draw that is sent off to the lab to determine if IgE levels suggest an allergy. A blood test can be used if a patient is already on antihistamines but is less accurate than skin test when diagnosing allergies.
If you suspect a food allergy, we recommend bringing a journal of what your child ate and when the reactions occurred. Our doctors may administer skin testing or recommend a blood test to determine allergies, although false positives are possible in these tests. Another option is an in-office food challenge to assess the reaction.
Tips to Prepare Your Child for Allergy Testing:
Stop Antihistamines
We require patients to stop certain medications 3-5 days before the test. If your child is already on antihistamines, other allergy medication, or is taking over-the-counter cold medicines, they should be stopped, as they may interfere with the test results.
Please see a complete list here.
Bring a Distraction
We recommend bringing a comfort toy, book, or an electronic tablet to distract your child. While it is not painful after the skin test, patients may get itchy and uncomfortable from the reactions. A toy can help pass time and distract them during the long initial appointment.
Talking to Your Child About the Allergy Test
Tests and going to the doctor can sound scary to a child. Reassure them that the test will not be painful, and explain to them it is necessary to learn what they are allergic to and will help them feel better.
The Results
Another benefit of skin testing is that you will leave the appointment knowing what allergens are bothersome to your child. Our allergists will work with you to develop an action plan, whether it’s a combination of avoidance and medication or allergy shots to desensitize them to their allergens. If diagnosed with a food allergy, our allergists prescribe an epinephrine auto-injector and give our patients a plan to help avoid the allergen.
If you have additional questions about how to prepare for your visit, contact our offices at 800.999.1249.
1 in 3 children have some form of allergy. Left untreated, allergies can cause all sorts of problems. Let our board-certified allergists help your family find relief!
How to Prepare Your Child for Allergy Testing | Pinnacle ENT
Effective Monday, June 13, 2022, our Valley Forge Ear, Nose & Throat Associates Division has moved to Limerick, PA. The new office is located at 542 N. Lewis Road, Suite 101, Limerick, PA 19468.
Posted on by Pinnacle ENT
If your child develops a rash after eating certain foods or a runny nose after playing outside in springtime, it might be time to get them tested for allergies.
While allergy tests are safe and not painful, they can still make children (and parents) feel anxious. Let’s look at what to expect and how you can prepare your child for allergy testing.
Why You Should Get Your Child Tested for Allergies
Though many people view allergies as a minor inconvenience, this is far from the truth. Not only can some allergies be severe and life-threatening, but they can also interfere with your child’s:
- Quality of sleep
- Performance in school
- Diet
- Overall mood
Information to Have Before Appointment
Before going in to see the allergist, keep a detailed log that includes information such as:
- Your child’s allergy symptoms (nasal congestion, rash, etc.)
- When their allergies seem to occur (time of day or particular seasons)
- Potential triggers (certain foods, grass, pollen)
- Any other medical conditions your child has or medication they take
- Any family medical history of allergies, asthma, eczema, etc.
This information can help your child’s allergists notice any potential patterns and decide what type of allergy testing is best.
Types of Allergy Testing
A skin prick test is the most common form of skin testing. It has been used successfully for years and is considered extremely reliable. During this test, a doctor will prick your child’s skin with a small amount of possible allergy triggers. If they’re allergic, that spot will get itchy and red.
Blood tests are also sometimes used to diagnose allergies. Their doctor will take a blood sample to look for certain antibodies known to cause allergies. Blood tests can help confirm the results of a skin prick test or may be used instead if your child is already taking antihistamines or has a history of severe allergic reactions.
Talk to Your Child About Their Allergy Test
Reassure your child that allergy testing is not painful and that they will be OK. Explain to them that testing is necessary to find out what they are allergic to and will help make them feel better. You can even offer to do something fun afterward, like taking them to Sprinkles Ice Cream Shoppe to give them something to look forward to.
You can also consider ways to make the test easier for them. You can bring a book, toy or tablet to help distract them during the test. This can be especially helpful during skin testing as they may start to feel some itchiness as they react to allergens.
If results confirm that your child has allergies, their allergist will recommend specific treatments and prevention methods to help minimize their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
If you would like additional information or wish to schedule an appointment with one of our experts, call Pinnacle ENT today.
Share Article
How to prepare a child for skin tests
- Allergoether
- Views: 2182
- : ( 0 Rating )
The kid is afraid of injections, and the allergist prescribes skin tests? We know how to persuade a child to pass the test.
Why do we need allergy diagnostics? To determine which allergens interfere with well-being, and remove them from your life or properly undergo allergen-specific immunotherapy (ASIT).
But why skin tests? First of all, because this is the most obvious method of allergy testing: after 15–20 minutes, by the strength of the skin reaction, you can determine the degree of sensitivity of the body to a whole range of possible allergens.
In addition, skin testing is much cheaper than a blood test for specific immunoglobulins E.
Skin tests are divided into application, scratch, intradermal and prick tests. Application is used to identify the causes of contact dermatitis, intradermal help to clarify the allergic diagnosis. Prick tests and prick tests are the most common types of testing for identifying causative allergens.
Prick testing involves applying the allergen through a scratch on the skin. To conduct a prick test, a small amount of the allergen is dripped onto the skin, and then this place is pierced with a prick lancet with a thin and very short needle (needle length - 1 mm).
As a result, the test becomes painless and bloodless. A new, sterile prick-lancet is used for each injection, so there is no need to be afraid of infections.
But how to explain all this to a child, especially if he is afraid of injections? Here are some tips.
Should I tell my child about skin tests beforehand?
A must if you want to keep his trust. In addition, if the samples come as a surprise to him, this may adversely affect his psychological state. Explain that the analysis must be done, because after it the baby will feel much better.
How do you explain to a child what analysis is?
Say that this is not a syringe injection, but only a gentle touch on the skin with a needle - like a “mosquito bite”. Also, of course, unpleasant, but not terrible. The child probably knows what a mosquito bite is, and a comparison with a familiar and understandable phenomenon should calm him down.
For clarity, you can prick the child's hand with a toothpick and emphasize that the procedure is absolutely bloodless, if the sight of blood also frightens your baby.
How to behave at home before the procedure?
If a child is afraid of injections, the worst thing for him is waiting. Do not leave him alone with your thoughts, constantly be there and try to discuss the upcoming analysis all the time. It can be said that there will be many children in the clinic and it will be possible to play with them or that there are many toys. In addition, tell them that the doctor is kind, just like Dr. Aibolit, and he does only pleasant procedures for children.
How to behave in the clinic?
Before the examination room, try to distract the child from his fears: read a book, play with dolls or cars, offer to talk to other children who are also waiting for an appointment.
In fact, skin tests can be a little annoying, especially if you do a lot of them at once. While they are testing, talk to the child, hold the hand, reassure in every possible way. The child should be as calm as possible and not throw tantrums.
“With skin tests, you need to sit still. If the baby breaks out and screams, then he will shake off the drops with the allergen from the skin, and the test will not show anything, ”warns the allergist-immunologist, candidate of medical sciences, medical director of ALLERGOTOP Elena Valentinovna Shuvatova.
For more information on how allergy testing is done, see the recording of the webinar "The most important thing about allergy testing."
Source: itchylittleworld.com
asthma pregnancy children diagnostics food intolerance hay fever dust pollen
More from Allergoether
How to prepare for hay fever
Asthma is not fatal
Egg Allergy: The Flu Shot Isn't Dangerous
How to pass ASIT for CHI
Milk protein in an asthma inhaler?
Dry eyelids: who is to blame and what to do
Popular Tags
allergy 239 hay fever 213 pollen 198 asthma 197 leather 175 children 159
Allergen testing in children
The appearance of skin rashes in babies is a serious cause of concern for parents.
They immediately assume - is it an allergy? There can be many reasons for this condition to occur. Allergen testing, which is now carried out in almost every pediatric clinic, will solve this problem.
For this purpose, venous blood rather than a skin test is taken from children. This way you can determine the level of antibodies. But at the same time, it is necessary to take into account whether the crumbs have any diseases, because this can affect the reliability of the results.
In the event that after the analysis the maximum activity of one of the allergens is shown, this indicates that the baby is allergic to this substance.
A skin test to determine allergies is performed as follows: is allergens applied in small doses to damaged skin in the forearm? and the reaction to them is checked immediately and after half an hour. But there are limitations for this analysis - it cannot be carried out for children who are under 3 years old and restless people.
Also, a skin test is not carried out if there are any inflammatory processes in the body.
Allergen testing does not always need to be done right away. So, in babies under 1 year old, manifestations of allergies are rare - in 15 children out of 100. The remaining rashes may be due to the too rapid introduction of new products into the diet, dysbacteriosis, or the presence of parasites in the body. Most allergists recommend that young children be tested for allergens only when it is necessary to confirm the diagnosis made by the doctor based on clinical symptoms and medical history.
It must be taken into account that in most cases a blood test for allergens is not equivalent to a clinical diagnosis. Sometimes positive reactions to a particular allergen can be observed in those children who, in fact, have never even come into contact with these allergens. Sometimes such an analysis can show false samples even if the manifestations of allergies are obvious.
Indications for testing
Based on this, allergists recommend testing only in the following cases:
- to confirm a food allergy discovered as a result of a particular food restriction;
- if the child had a history of anaphylactic shock as a result of an insect bite;
- to confirm allergies that occurred after the introduction of the vaccine;
- when it becomes necessary to determine the weakening of the allergy.
What allergens can a child have? The most common allergic reaction is food. You can detect it with the help of a special test, without resorting to analyzes. In this case, the presence of an allergic reaction can be detected. The diet of young children is not very diverse, therefore, using this test, 11 types of antibodies to the most common allergens (gluten, eggs, cow's milk, fish, soy and other products) are studied.
If parents are suspicious, additional tests for individual allergens are performed.
A fairly common child allergy to pet dander, drank or plant pollen. To determine what exactly causes such a negative reaction, you can perform an inhalation test or conduct tests.
It must be borne in mind that often a predisposition to a particular type of allergy can be inherited.
How blood is tested for allergens
To test for allergens, blood is taken from a patient, and then immune responses are examined with its help.
It is essential for the patient to prepare before the allergy test. It is necessary to follow certain rules in order for this study to be as accurate and informative as possible:
- Blood sampling for testing for allergies is carried out on an empty stomach in the morning.
- For the patient, 3-5 days before the planned blood test, it is necessary to exclude from the diet all foods that are characterized by high allergenicity:
- seafood;
- nuts;
- eggs;
- chocolate and any products containing it;
- citrus fruits;
- natural honey;
- out-of-season fruits and vegetables;
- cheeses and milk;
- Beverages and products containing flavors, colors and artificial sweeteners.
- Stop contact with pets 3-5 days before testing if possible.
- A few days before the planned study, heavy emotional and physical exertion should be avoided.
- A blood test for allergens should be taken during remission. It is then that the level of specific antibodies in the blood decreases to a level that is as close to normal as possible. During an exacerbation, the content of antibodies in the blood rises. Only if such a rule is observed, with the artificial introduction of allergens into the blood, it will be possible to see a real picture of an increased immune response.
- If the patient's condition allows, it is advisable to completely stop using medications for some time before the analysis, even if they have nothing to do with allergies.
- Antihistamines should be discontinued because they reduce histamine levels in the blood, so the result of immunological tests may be false. It is better to discuss this preparation rule with your doctor: the abolition of antihistamines in severe and frequent exacerbations of allergies can be dangerous to the patient's health.
- It is not advisable to donate blood for allergic tests in case of acute respiratory viral infections, fever, acute intestinal diseases and other acute conditions. The study can be carried out a few days after recovery, when blood counts can return to normal.
Observing all the above conditions, you will be able to obtain the most accurate results of an immunological blood test, so that it will be possible to prescribe adequate treatment in a short time and get rid of allergy manifestations.
You can pay for the necessary services by scanning the QR code
Make an appointment now
Make an appointment at the clinicMAKE AN APPOINTMENT
About Duncan Medical Clinic
Adult and pediatric doctors from more than 20 specialties conduct appointments We provide assistance to the whole family.
