Allergy Testing

The best way to treat your uncomfortable allergy symptoms is to determine their exact cause; that’s where allergy testing comes in. By exposing you to a small amount of common allergic reaction-triggering substances and monitoring your body’s reaction, we can determine what substances you’re sensitive to, making a treatment plan possible.

What We Test For

Allergy testing is effective for identifying seasonal and environmental allergies, as well as certain food allergies. We test your body’s reaction to:

• Pollen (including several different types)
• Mold
• Dust/dust mites
• Pet dander
• 20 common foods

These make up the most common allergies in people and will often help you discover the root cause of your uncomfortable symptoms.

Skin Prick Testing

Skin tests are the preferred allergy test because they are safe, affordable and provide accurate results. They are most often used to test for allergies to pollen, mold, dust mites, pet dander and food.

How Does a Skin Test Procedure Work?

In prick testing, several drops of a solution containing the suspected allergen are placed on the surface of the skin. A needle is used to prick or scratch the skin where the drops are placed.

If your body is allergic to this substance, the immune system will respond. The result is swelling and redness on the skin.

How Fast Are the Results of a Skin Prick Test?

This allergy testing procedure is performed in-office and should take no longer than 20 to 40 minutes. Skin prick test results are available before you leave the doctor’s office because skin prick tests are visual; the allergist can tell whether you are allergic to an allergen based on how your body responds.

Prick testing is 100% safe and reliable, but as it involves contact with potential allergens, it may cause minor discomfort, swelling or itching.

Skin Prick Test vs. Patch Test

A patch test is another topical (i.e., applied to the skin) test that is more often used to identify allergens that cause skin rashes. Patch tests typically take several days to process and function differently. Where a skin prick test introduces a tiny amount of an allergen into the skin, a patch test holds a liquid containing the allergen on top of the skin using a specialized patch. After 48 hours, the patient can return to the allergist, who will then mark the test sites, and a third appointment may occur another 48 hours later before final results can be determined.

Watch Our Three-Minute Video on Skin Prick Tests!

Intradermal Test

An intradermal test, or blood test, is used when a skin prick test does not produce an allergic reaction, to confirm the results of a skin prick test or if there are concerns that a severe, even life-threatening reaction could occur to even a small amount of exposure to a potential allergen.

How Does a Blood Test Procedure Work?

The allergist will take a small sample of your blood and send it to a lab to process. There, small amounts of allergens will be added to the sample to see its reaction. Results will take longer to come in for a blood test, as the sample needs to be sent off, and it can only test for one or two specific allergens at a time, rather than a wide array.

A blood test measures how much of an allergen-specific antibody, called immunoglobulin E (IgE), is in your blood. The more allergen-specific IgE in your blood, the more likely you are to be allergic.

Which Test Is Right for Me?

Typically, we start out with a skin prick test, as it is quicker and allows us to test several allergens at once. If further clarification is needed after a skin test, we may follow up with a blood test.

Some medications and conditions make blood testing preferable because blood testing doesn’t expose a patient to allergens. Medicines on that list include antihistamines, steroids and antidepressants. Additionally, people with life-threatening allergies, skin conditions, asthma or heart conditions may all be better candidates for a blood test to avoid coming into contact with a potentially dangerous allergen.

Pediatric Allergy Testing

If the patient is a child, they can still do either skin prick testing or intradermal testing. There is no age limit—even newborns can be allergy tested. Just like with adult testing, we would typically start out with a skin test.

We will walk your child through what testing entails so they’ll feel comfortable before we start. For children, we often perform skin testing on their back rather than their arm to minimize scratching, but that means they’ll be spending a bit of time lying on their stomach while we await results, and the test site may become itchy and uncomfortable. We recommend bringing a book, snacks or handheld games to distract them.

What Happens After Allergy Testing?

Once we’ve confirmed what allergens trigger your symptoms, we can begin building a customized allergy management plan with you. This could include several different recommendations, including:

• Environmental avoidance strategies
• Lifestyle changes
• Medication options
• Immunotherapy (allergy shots or drops)

Knowledge is power: What we recommend and what plan we build will depend heavily on what you’re allergic to, how severe your allergy is and your personal preferences. We look forward to working with you to help you get the relief you need!

Please note:

• We do not perform Penicillin testing at AENT.
• Skin testing at AENT does not include testing for tree nuts, peanuts, shellfish or any chemicals, dyes, metals or medications.
• We do not perform food challenges, aspirin desensitization, plant desensitization or venom desensitization.