At Allergy Care Now we offer a number of innovative diagnostic tests to get to the root the problem and determine where it is occurring in order to provide the best patient care possible. Allergy Skin Testing is especially helpful in patients with asthma, allergic pneumonia, cough, dermatitis, insect allergy, rhinitis, sinusitis, urticarial and angioedema.
Allergy Skin Test
An allergy skin test is used to identify the substances that are causing your allergy reactions. The”scratch” or “prick testing” as it is often called involves a painless scratch on the surface of the skin and introduces a small amount of allergen extract to create a reaction (inducing an IgE reaction). Allergens produce a raised, red area in varying sizes depending on the severity of the reaction. More sensitive “intradermal” tests may be used in which a small amount of allergen is injected within the skin. Test results are available within 20 minutes of testing, and reflect more sensitive allergies that may not be shown on blood tests, therefore yielding more complete results. These reactions are measured to determine which allergens a patient is most sensitive to and then used to create the patient’s own unique treatment plan and Immunotherapy regimen.
