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What to Expect When You Go for Food Allergy Testing |
 The most important step that anyone fighting a food allergy can take is to find out the source of your misery. There are such a wide variety of food allergies that you simply cannot cut out every food type that could conceivably set off food allergy symptoms. That is why food allergy testing conducted by qualified allergists who have professional training in helping you understand your medical situation can be very helpful.
But it helps to know in advance what to expect when you go to see your allergist to get food allergy testing underway. Understanding the process is especially important if you are helping your child cope with the problems allergies to food can bring. As miserable as the young person might be, they will probably be apprehensive about food allergy testing. So by discussing exactly what the doctor will do when the youngster goes to his or her food allergy testing sessions will take the mystery out of the process and get rid of much of the fear that your son or daughter may be going through
The first step of food allergy testing will almost always consist of an interview. By talking to you about the nature of your symptoms and your dietary habits, the doctor may be able to narrow down the number of possible foods that could be giving you trouble. The interview is the most important part of food allergy testing because if the allergist had to test for every conceivable food allergy, it would be a huge undertaking.
You can prepare for the interview by documenting the times you had episodes where your food allergy symptoms occurred. Note the occurrence of food allergy problems relative to when you ate.
A food diary will help a great deal in narrowing down what foods that are in your diet now that could be setting off the allergic symptoms you are experiencing. A food diary should be detailed because just a small portion of a particular food that you are allergic to could set off your food allergy problems. In many cases, keeping a food diary for a few weeks prior to food allergy testing could help you identify the exact food allergy that you think you have and that is information that is tremendously valuable when food allergy testing gets underway.
Even if you feel certain you know what foods are causing your allergy problems, the doctor may conduct a skin test to confirm the problem. A skin test is a kind of food allergy testing that introduces a small liquid form of the food that your immune system is rejecting to your skin to watch for a reaction. The skin test is not painful. At most, you may have a small prick done to the skin to place the testing solution under the surface so your immune system will detect it easily.
In many cases, the reaction to the skin test will happen quickly and the doctor will have his or her results. However, be prepared because if the doctor needs to test for more than one allergen, those food allergy tests may be conducted at the same time, which means you could have multiple skin prick testing going on in the same session.
Once the skin prick food allergy testing is successful, the food type that was confirmed as a problem may still need additional confirmation. In that case, the doctor may follow up the skin prick food allergy testing with a blood test. The combination of the skin test and the blood sample should give the allergist what he or she needs to confirm your food allergy problem with a high degree of accuracy. The blood test will not cause significant pain either and it is not complicated. Usually a small sample of blood taken from the finger is sufficient.
For a child or a youth, that may seem like tremendous suffering. But it is worth it if the allergist can get to the bottom of your food allergy problem so you know what to do to stop the misery you or your family member may be experiencing from a troublesome food allergy problem.
Once the food allergy is confirmed, the allergist can help you decide how extensive you wish to go with a possible solution. In the majority of cases, the "cure" for a food allergy is to simply avoid that food type entirely. If your food allergy symptoms are severe or life threatening, then it may be necessary to begin treatment through allergy shots. But before you become concerned about having to go to that extreme to get control over your allergy problem, give the food allergy testing process the time to do its work. It is worth it to know exactly what the problem is because that will make the process of solving the problem so much more effective.
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