Is Allergy Testing Children Important

One of the simplest methods for allergy testing children is the so-called scratch test. This is the one they give children who have chronic stuffy noses, itchy eyes, and other symptoms of airborne allergens. Basically, they divide the skin on the back into a grid and put a small sample of the protein from a common allergen in each square of it. The ones that the child are allergic to flare up, and the other ones don't. You can tell how severe a childhood allergy is by how much it flares up when a sample of the substance is put on the skin.

Of course once you test children, you have to decide what to do about it. The most common solution to childhood allergies, of course, is prescribing an antihistamine. Antihistamines like Zyrtec and Claritin have gotten very popular lately because they effectively treat mild or moderate allergies with few side effects. Unfortunately, they aren't really enough if your child has severe allergic reactions. Problems like childhood asthma, chronic illness, and physical discomfort are all symptoms of serious allergic reactions. Usually, allergy testing children can be used to confirm if the child suffers from severe allergies.

Usually, children who are severely allergic are given allergy shots. Allergy shots are a little bit of a hassle, but they are very safe and quite effective. The child has to go to the doctor about once a week to get injections, and after that he has to stay in the doctors office for another 10 or 15 minutes to make sure that he isn't suffering a severe allergic reaction to the shots. These reactions are rare, so it's more of a precaution than anything else. Shots take a while to work, but within a couple months your child should be feeling noticeably better.

Of course, many proponents of allergy testing children say that there are times when you don't really want to do anything to treat the allergies at least anything medical. There's a lot of research that eating a healthy diet can reduce allergic reactions tremendously in kids and adults as well. As a matter of fact, allergy testing children before and after dietary changes shows some evidence that this is true. Some doctors try to propose this as the first step in treating allergic children. Other, more traditional doctors like to combine this treatment with antihistamines.