A Brief Look at Allergy Testing


Defined Tag: Allergy Testing.

If you suffer from an allergy that bothers you frequently and/or the cause of it is unknown, your doctor may decide to send you for allergy testing. First he will perform a physical exam himself and if he still not satisfied that he understands the root of the problem he might book an appointment for you to visit an allergist, who is a doctor who specializes in both asthma and allergies.

The first part of allergy testing involves the doctor understanding what symptoms you suffer from and evaluating these symptoms accordingly. The doctor will ask you a series of questions which will help him rule out similar health conditions and also to more closely pinpoint which type of allergy you might be suffering from.

Examples of questions you might be asked include:
-What kind of symptoms do you experience?
-How long have you had these symptoms?
-When the symptoms arise, how often do they stay around?
-Are your symptoms related to the season of the year?
-Do you smoke?
-Do you have pets in your home?
-Are your symptoms worse when you are indoors or outdoors?

The doctor will also give you a complete physical exam and in particular will focus in on your skin, eyes, ears, nose and throat. The doctor will look carefully for any swelling, redness, drainage or other allergy symptoms.

If your doctor is still unclear after this part of the allergy testing he may send you for a blood test or skin test. There are also other types of allergy tests such as food allergy tests. If it is determined that you have an allergy to a food then you may be required by your doctor to keep a food diary and mark down everything you eat and drink on a daily basis. You may also be asked to limit or completely remove specific foods from your diet to more accurate determine what the allergy you are suffering from is.