Allergy Skin Tests

Allergy Skin Tests

With hay fever, the most common thing you are told is to avoid your triggers. But what if you don’t know what the triggers, how are you supposed to avoid them? How do you find out what they are?

Allergy skin tests are designed to help expose whether or not a suspected allergen is actually what is causing the allergic reaction. To gather information on what could be a possible suspected allergen is through the medical history.  During the medical history some questions that may be asked include: How long have you had the allergy? Where do you live? How long do the symptoms last for? Where do you work or what are some environmental exposures?

After gathering the information, the suspected allergen will then be introduced in one of three ways- a skin prick test, skin injection test, and patch test.

            Skin Prick Test- is done with a lancet injected different allergens. The results usually come in about 15 minutes. It can be done with as many as 40 different substances to see if the allergies are from pollen, mold, pet dander, dust and even food allergies. If a skin prick test is positive, there will be a skin response This could be a raised, red itchy lump- somewhat like a mosquito bite.

            Skin Injection Test- a test that, like the skin prick, injects a small amount of allergen extract into your skin. The difference is that instead of a lancet, it is used with a needle to be a little deeper as an intradermal test. In about 15 minutes, there will be signs of an allergic reaction- this test isn’t very common for hay fever like the skin prick test, but more for allergies to venoms or specific medications.

            Patch Test- tests to see if there is an allergic reaction by not injecting an allergen, but instead applying it to a patch, which will be placed on the skin. Like the injection test, this isn’t very common for hay fever, but more for contact dermatitis, such as latex or preservative allergies. The patch will be worn for 2 and irritation will indicated a positive test.  

All of these tests are used in order to pinpoint what your allergies are in order to avoid them. This means may not be necessary for everyone, but more for those who really need to know, are more susceptible, and have very severe allergies. Talk to your doctor about if this interests you to see when/how you can receive this testing. 

Alternative Therapies- Butterbur, Honey, and Acupuncture

Alternate Therapies-

Complementary alternative medicine (CAM) is any healing practice that isn’t part of the practices of conventional medicine. It can range from receiving acupuncture to taking herbal supplements. Because it is alternate however, there is not sufficient evidence to back these treatments as certified but many people vouch for effective results none the less.

Like most conditions, there are “alternate therapies” for Hay Fever. Some of the most common ones include rinsing sinuses (nasal irrigation), which will be discussed in a later blog. Also, common herbal therapies include butterbur, Tinospora cordifolia, cat’s claw, choline, goldenseal, belladonna, bromelian, and honey. Alternate therapies also include hypnosis, acupuncture, and probiotics.

This blog entry will be discussing butterbur, honey, and accupuncture

For information on the other alternative therapies check out http://nccam.nih.gov/ and http://www.rateadrug.com/ for more information and to evaluate your own experiences with these treatments.

Butterbur- (Petasites hybridus) Extracts taken from this shrub-like plant have been used as medicine for for migraines, stomach cramps, coughs, allergies and asthma.

Although how it works is unknown, butterbur is believed to block the action of histamine and leukotrienes resulting in a decrease in inflammatory reactions. There have been studies involving participants with hay fever taking doses of butterbur which had a greater relief in symptoms than those with the placebo. However no studies have been conclusive to classify this as an effective treatment. Side effects include indigestion, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrha, and constipation and is not intended for those who are pregnant, children, and with renal or liver conditions.

Butterbur - Petasites hybridus

Honey- Honey has been studied as a potential therapy for those with pollen senstitive patients. The idea behind it is that the traces of pollen inside the honey desensitizes the body to honey, therefore reducing the hay fever symptoms. This idea is a much like that of immunotherapy.

Honey

Acupuncture- a Chinese healing process which has been practiced for thousands of years, has been studied for the benefit of many diseases. As for hay fever, research suggests that those who receieved accupuncuture with Chinese herbal tea noticed a lessening of hay fever symptoms. But like the other alternate treatments, the study isn’t conclusive.

Acupuncture

Keep in mind with all of these that it is CRUCIAL that you discuss this with your doctor before starting treatment. Herbs and alternative therapies may be harmful to other predisposing medical conditions, need to be taken cautiously, and need to be monitored. Make sure you tell your doctor if you are taking any because although they are not classified as a convention treatment there is still a physiologic impact on the body. Also make sure to by your herbal remedies from safe sources. Herbals are not FDA approved therefore not regulated so doses may be misleading.