Skin Allergy Testing?

I had it done about 20 years ago. It was no big deal, not painful at all, although I reacted to almost everything. I then had allergy shots for years but stopped when I went into anaphylaxes shock. The doc gave me a shot of adrenaline and I was fine but it was an awful feeling so I never went back.

Knowing what you are allergic to does not mean being able to prevent the allergies. For example, I am allergic to grass, trees with white bark and 11 of the 12 molds I was tested for that you can't even see. So the question remains what are you going to do about it.

Good luck!! I haven't seen an allergist in almost 20 years so maybe there are better treatments today.

They prick your skin with little needles and then place the allergen on the "wound" and wait for a reaction. If your unlucky enough to have a ton of allergies (ie me) then you will get dozens of incredibly itchy red bumps which you cant scratch until they are done timing the test. Horrible. Somewhat like torture. Worth doing so you know what you are allergic to but NOT at all fun.

I recently asked the same question because my 4 year old son had to have the scratch tests done recently.

I know it is common for the testing to be done on the back, and I've been told that when they do it on the back, they do rows of allergens at a time, but they did my son's on the inside of his forearms. The took individual little plastic things, maybe the size of a plastic thumb tack, but with no visible point or anything on them but must have had some kind of sharp tip containing the allergen on it, and individually "scratched" each allergen onto his forearm. Each scratch was very quick, and to administer like 28 or so scratches, it might have taken one minute, total? It was very quick, and not painful. My son first started laughing when they started, I think it almost tickled? As they got more done, his laugh turned more into a half laugh, half wimper, like he didn't know if he should laugh or cry? But it was so quick, that he didn't have time to really get upset. And I can assure you that if it hurt, he wouldn't have been laughing at all. The harder part was waiting for the results to develop. My son has a peanut allergy, so that particular allergen caused a huge, itchy welt to develop that was really bothersome for my son. Of course he wanted to scratch it, and it was irritated. And the other welts that developed for his other allergies itched, and you can't scratch until the results are observed by the doctor. That was the hardest part, and even that wasn't bad at all. I just kept blowing on his arms, and he was ok. And we only had to wait like 10 minutes, after which time, the itch had worn off mostly, and they wiped him with alcohol wipes, which I think further killed any remaining itching. I've heard that often after the testing, if there is remaining itching, they'll administer Benedryl, or spray Benedryl spray on the welts to help with itching. My son had a lot of reactions/welts, and he didn't even need this. And again, he was only 4, so as an adult, this should be no problem at all.

Having seen my son do it, I would have no problem subjecting myself to the same testing. Best of luck to you.

Have you checked into having the blood testing done instead of skin scratch testing? According to my son's doctor it is FAR more accurate and reliable. There is nothing left to "interpretation" of the person looking at the skin, and no "bleed over" from one prick to the next either.

My son (12 yrs old) had it done last year. He is allergic to about 11 different allergens and we know exactly (decimal point) how much he reacted to each individual allergen.

It also may be less expensive than the scratch test, if I recall correctly what our doctor told us. I am pretty sure it was less than $400...

Added: There is no itching involved, lol. They draw the blood and send it off to a lab. The lab tests the blood with the allergens and the results are recorded and sent back to your doctor within a week or so.

They have 2 little contraptions that have pins of allergens in them -- like 8 each. They press each contraption into your back (if you have the back scratch test done) and move it a bit to let the allergens out. One of the spots is a "control" of water. They are the top food (wheat, soy, milk, egg, peanut, tree nut, shellfish, fish, etc) and top environmental allergens (cats, dogs, trees, grasses, molds, dust mites, etc). I had it done before there were nice little contraptions (when they needed to do individual scratches and drops) back in the 1980s. My kids both had the contraptions done (at 14 mos and 6 mos due to older one having peanut, milk, egg, and fish allergies). I also had the arm test when I was a kid - they inject little pools of allergens under your skin and check the reactions. The bigger a reaction on either of these skin tests the higher the allergy sensitivity. However, if you have SENSITIVE SKIN it can throw a bitty wrench into it.

There are blood tests but usually allergists do the skin tests first as the blood tests you have to choose the panel or suspected allergens and it gets expensive.

Good luck!

I had allergy testing done a year ago...it was a 3 stage process. First step, the pricks on the back, which wasn't terrible. Once they determined that, yes, I was allergic to some things, we scheduled the second part. The first part is to make sure that you don't have a severe reaction to something, as those doses of allergens are less than the second stage. The second part was torture...80 SHOTS (yes, 8-0), 40 on each arm. And then the itching afterwards! I was allergic to 55 of 80 allergens. The third step was bloodwork to test for food allergies, of which I had none. That one you had to refrain from eating certain foods beforehand (ditto with the other two stages of testing). Also, the allergy testing is only good for the area you currently live in, as it tests for local allergens...if you move, even a few hours away, you would have to redo the testing all over again. I am now on a prescription nasal spray for my allergies & take claritin as needed, which does keep it under control. I've also taken a lot of precautions at home, like dust covers on the mattresses, and an air purifier, which help. I had so many allergies, though, that they recommended allergy shots for the next 5 years. I decided not to, as my allergies are under control right now. GL!

My daughter, who is 9, had it done. she laid face down, they put several dots/drops on her back, then she just had to lay still for about 15 minutes. the ones that got real red and itchy was the things she was allergic to. there's not much to it, that's about it, no pain involved, just itchy..

I had 46 pokes to my back last month and it was very untolerable. I couldn't believe they were doing something so painful to me! They give you a pill so you don't itch afterwards. They said I was a good candidate for allergy shots and when I called to make the appt. they told me I need to go in and sign a consent form saying I will pay for a years worth of shots even if I stop going for them because they have to order them ahead of time. I have to talk to my insurance company and understand just how much each shot/visit is and how much will be covered before I agree to all that money. Good luck. I have been suffering from allergies/asthma for years and would like it all to just go away. It really puts a damper on my life and I hate sneezing and coughing all day/every night.

What they do is take little needles with different things in it and poke your back all over. My daughter had this done. The actual pokes did not hurt much it was the itching from everything she was allergic to that caused the irratation. We found out she was allergic to everything but Elm trees. After the tests they rub alcohol on them to help with the irratation. Some of them took a few days to clear up while others cleared up sooner. Hope this helps.

I think the prick is less irritating than the itch that comes if you have the alergy. Two of my kids had been through this. The hardest part for me is to watch them unable to scratch the itchy bumps when it start reacted to the alergen.
Other than that, it's a quick prick in the back.
Haven't try the blood test one, maybe that's a better option. Just one needle and less itch.

I had a scratch test done a few years ago, for environmental allergies. I think it was about 42 scratches they did on my forearms. They used a regular pen to write 2 columns of numbers down my forearms. Then they sat with a tray of these little needle thingys and scratched one by each number. The lady did it pretty fast lol It didn't really hurt as much as it got a little annoying! One of the scratches will be a control, and you WILL react to that one. In my case, I am allergic to dust mites and specific type of mold, and the reactions weren't even that bad. But boy did that control puff up & get red & itchy!

After an amount of time (15 mins? 20 mins? Can't remember...) they'll come back and measure each reaction & record it, then let you know what each one is that you are allergic to. I got a copy of what all was tested so I'd also know what I was not allergic to.

I'm sure you could bring some sort of itch relief ointment to put on your arms afterward to help with the itching in case you have a lot of reactions. For me, the control was the only one that bothered me, and I think it quit itching by the time I left the office anyways.

Last year I also had a scratch test for food allergy screening. Worked the same way. No allergies there for me :)

I had a complete allergy work-up (skin test) about a year ago. It's easy! Doesn't hurt at all. The allergist will have a tray of all the allergens he/she will test on you. I was tested on both of my arms, from the inside of my wrists all the way up my arms. Once the allergist puts the rows of allergens on your arms, then you wait for a reaction. Expect to sit in the office for at least an hour. It's sort of boring. Then once you are all done, if you have any reactions, you might have welts on your arms. Don't freak out! My arms looked like I had been shooting up all day. It was kind of funny! The allergist had a skin spray for me to use because my arms were itching so badly after the test. Wear short sleeves for the test.

It has been awhile but when I did the best way I can describe it is like "toothpicks being stuck in your back" then if you are sensitive to something it will itch like crazy. It was annoying and uncomfortable (light pokes and itching) but not unbearable and its not for a long length of time-then I had to do allergy testing on my arms and they actually let me use EMLA cream (which is a numbing cream applied before the test) because honestly I am afraid of needles and they were going to have to do like 10-12 needle pricks. So with the Emla cream I did not feel a thing on my arm-But the EMLA cream is not the norm, so I did have to ask for it. But heres the thing-its worth being uncomfortable to know EXACTLY what your allergic to and if they recommend shots (which I had) it really does make a huge difference-I had awful allergies and was taking pills, nosespray, eyedrops which get $$ and you build a tolerance and have to get a stronger strength as time goes by-I opted for the shots and all I needed was the occassional antihistamine! Totally worth it! And the immunity lasts for many years! When you have bad allergies it is life changing not to suffer anymore and not to be on meds for it-My advice? Suck it up and get relief! Its just like 45 mins of being uncomfortable and then you will be soo happy to know whats causing it and how to cure it! Sorry soo long! Hope it helped!

I can tell you having gone through it, it's a waste of time. I used NAET treatment instead and was over the top! Skin testing cannot pick up food allergies of things that you have eaten 72 hours ago. NAET testing will always tell what your body is allergic to at any time and the allergen is then eliminated! Both daughters and myself have gone through most of the list but still have a few more to do. Visit NAET.com and find a practitioner near you. You cannot not eat, so you need to eliminate the allergy. You can also do your own study by just simply taking yourself off all dairy for 3 weeks. This includes yogurt, milk, soy, cheese and any product that has any of this in it.