What Can I Expect from Allergy Testing?

• Posted on: Aug 15 2017
• By: The ENT and Allergy Centers of Texas

If you speak fluent “Ah Choo!” and have to blow your nose more times per day than you care to admit, you may be suffering from allergies. Allergies can cause patients to feel like they have a common cold with symptoms like a runny nose, itchy eyes, and a sore throat, or they can result in more serious symptoms like anaphylactic shock. Here at The ENT & Allergy Centers of Texas, we test patients for allergies caused by common inhaled allergens like weeds, mold, grasses, pet dander, and trees.

How Are Allergies Tested?

Allergies can be tested by going outside and smelling as many trees as possible and seeing if they make you sneeze or not, but we don’t recommend that method. At The ENT & Allergy Centers of Texas, we conduct allergy testing through skin prick testing to patients ages 5 and older.

During this type of testing, a tiny drop of a potential allergen will be scratched into the skin. Depending on your symptoms, patients are typically tested for anywhere from 10 to 50 allergens at one time. Patients who are tested positive for these allergens show reactive symptoms like redness and itching.

Does It Hurt?

Many patients find that the scratching part of allergy testing isn’t painful, but that the allergens themselves (if they are allergic to them) are what is uncomfortable due to all of the itching. After about 15 minutes and we have identified what your allergies are, we may give you either an oral or topical antihistamine to help stop the itching.

Scratch testing allows our staff to properly identify what you are allergic to and create a customized treatment plan for you. If you are sick of feeling sick due to allergies, schedule your scratch test at one of our Texas offices today!

Posted in: Allergies