Can you share your experience with allergy tests?

3yo DS had pretty bad eczema as a baby and toddler. He has had blood tests that said he was allergic to nuts and dogs (pet dander?).

His eczema flared up a lot this past summer but has been under control. Occasionally DS will break out into hives or his mouth will turn red when there are no dogs or nuts.

I wanted to get DS the prick test. DH thinks it isn't necessary and we should just keep dogs and nuts away from him.

Can you share your experiences with the prick allergy tests? Was it very painful for your child?

Re: Can you share your experience with allergy tests?

They aren't painful, it's itchy and annoying. It's not really a prick, the allergist will put a concentrated liquid drop of the allergen on your child's skin (usually arm or back, somewhere they won't scratch) and then see how it reacts within a certain timeframe (roughly 15 mins).

IMO it's just as important as a blood test, as it can be a better indicator of your likelihood of actually reacting to an allergen. For example, in the RAST blood panel my DS has a very slight peanut allergy. However he has an immediate violent reaction in the skin/prick test. It turns in a huge welt right away. If we just went by the bloodwork we'd probably have done a challenge test and he'd most likely have gotten really sick. As it is he's had an airborne peanut reaction which is pretty rare, even in kids with high RAST results.

Re: Can you share your experience with allergy tests?

I agree with Cathy.

It sounds like his nut allergy may be more serve than you think (not eating anything that is processed in a peanut plant) or he has developed other allergies.

DS developed a shellfish and egg allergy at 3 so you never know.

Re: Can you share your experience with allergy tests?

DS had the prick test, as did I. I can speak from experience that it does not hurt. You wait 15 minutes and then they examine the area. It really isn't a big deal and gives you valuable information about your DS. Turns out my DS has seasonal allergies. It's definitely worth it.