Allergies in children can cause a lot of annoying symptoms which interfere with sleep, school life, diet, and general health and wellbeing. There are well-known allergy medicines that your doctor can recommend but it can just be more effective to allergy test your child to find the source of the problem. Child allergy testing is easy to arrange, just contact Touchwood Pharmacy for more information.
Different Types of Child Allergy Testing
Depending on the type of allergy or allergies your child may be suffering from and their symptoms, your doctor or allergist will recommend one or more of the following child allergy tests:
- Skin prick test – the healthcare professional will prick your child’s skin with a small number of possible allergy triggers. If the child responds to the trigger, then the area around the needle site will become red and itchy. Up to 50 allergies can be tested for at once
- Skin injection test – this is also called an intradermal test and a fine needle inserts a small amount of the suspected allergen underneath the child’s skin
- Patch test – this leaves an allergen on the skin for longer periods of time to gauge a reaction
These are the three most common child allergy tests but there are others, for instance, you can try an elimination diet yourself at home. This is where you remove one suspect food at a time to see if the symptoms ease.
At what age do children develop allergies?
Children can develop allergies at any age. Skin tests are not usually done in children under the age of six months.
Depending on the suspected allergy, the doctor or allergist will decide on which is the most appropriate test based on the child’s health, age, and other factors.
How are child allergies treated?
The specific treatment plan will vary from child to child but will usually include avoiding trigger foods or ingredients, prescription or over-the-counter medications to alleviate symptoms, or allergy shots. If the food allergy produces a very serious reaction, then your child may be prescribed an injectable epinephrine pen.
Find out more about child allergy testing from Touchwood Pharmacy. We offer all the main child allergy tests to help diagnose and treat food and seasonal allergies in children.
