testing - Allergies Message Board

help wanted :( · 08-12-2007, 08:43 AM

im thinking about getting one of tghose comprehensive tests done with probes on your body that test for many differnt food allergies. has anyone had this done? how accurte is it?

thanks

Titchou · 08-12-2007, 11:43 AM

I'm not familiar with probes for testing....only the skin scratch test and the blood test. It is my understanding that the blood test is best for food allergies and the scratch one for environmental ones.

hopetofeelwell1 · 08-12-2007, 04:23 PM

Hi Help Wanted! I went through scratch testing for food and found I didn't have any food allergies. I had scaratchtesting and found I had sever allergies for dust, dog, and cat. I had a HUGE test for contact allergens which consists of putting all kinds of stuff on your back, such as PPD(hair dye coloring), rubber, latex, nickel, other metals, etc. If you are allergic, your back gets SO itchy and you have to leave this stuff on for about 72 hrs. This is SOOO worth it, though, to find out what you're allergic to. It was, I thought, a killer at the time, but in looking back, it was so worth it because I was getting sick all the time. I am having it done again in about a month or so to see if anything has changed. Hope this was somewhat helpful. Take care & God bless--Hopeto--

help wanted :( · 08-13-2007, 09:13 AM

thanks for your replies. im not too familiar with the probe one either, i just no they put them in certian spots on your body and somehow test you against samples of various foods etc. what does scratch testgin involve? how do they usually test for dust and environmental allergies?

Titchou · 08-13-2007, 10:14 AM

They just scratch/nick your skin to put a little of the allergen there. After a certain period of time(usually 20 minutes), they measure the size of the reactions to determine how allergic you are to that particular allergen. It works best for environmental allergies. In the blood test for food allergies, they just draw blood and send it off to be analyzed.