Allergy testing, also known as skin or prick testing, is a method for determining what substances a person is allergic to.
Skin testing is the most common, reliable and relatively painless form of allergy testing. A very small amount of certain allergens is put into your skin by making a small indentation or “prick” on the surface of your skin. A skin test determines specific allergens based on skin reactions. You don’t have to wait long to find out what is triggering your allergies. Reactions occur within about 15-20 minutes and results are discussed the same day.
If you have allergies, just a little swelling will occur where the allergen(s) which you are allergic to was introduced. For instance, if you are allergic to ragweed pollen but not to cats, only the ragweed allergen will cause a little swelling or itching. The spot where the cat allergen was applied will remain normal.
Blood tests are generally used when skin tests might be unsafe or won’t work, such as if you are taking certain medications or have a skin condition that may interfere with skin testing.
Lung function testing
Spirometry measures how much air you can inhale as well as how much and how fast you can exhale air. It is an important tool to diagnose and understand asthma severity and control.
A FeNO test or exhaled nitric oxide test, performed in patients with allergic or eosinophilic asthma, is a way to determine how much lung inflammation is present and how well inhaled steroids are suppressing this inflammation. With allergic or eosinophilic asthma, you may feel your breathing is fine, but when you measure your exhaled nitric oxide, it may still be significantly elevated. If this is the case, you might do better in the long-term using slightly more of your inhaled steroid to suppress this inflammation.
Allergen immunotherapy
The concept behind immunotherapy is that the immune system can be desensitized to specific allergens that trigger allergy symptoms.
The allergen(s) are identified through a combination of a medical evaluation performed by a trained allergist / immunologist and allergy diagnostic testing (skin or allergy blood tests).
Allergy immunotherapy is a proven effective treatment for allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma and stinging insect allergy. It also may be effective in some individuals with atopic dermatitis (eczema) if they have allergies to airborne allergens.
Immunotherapy can potentially lead to lasting remission of allergy symptoms, and it may play a preventive role in the development of asthma and new allergies.
There are also other methods that can be used for immunotherapy, including sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), oral immunotherapy (OIT), and intralymphatic immunotherapy (ILIT). Please see “Allergen Immunotherapy” tab for more details (clickable link).
Biologic therapies
Biologics or biological therapy is a type of therapeutic treatment which is designed to specifically block or enhance a biological phenomenon, gene, or protein which is involved in a disease process. The most commonly used biological therapies used in allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis and asthma are monoclonal antibodies directed against important pathologic targets such as IgE and pro-inflammatory cytokines.
