juice39
06-30-2009, 05:35 PM
Can anyone give me a description of what is meant by the term "wheel" regarding the reaction one gets from allergy shots? I sometimes get a red area or a small sweling in the injection site. I have searched on the internet and can not come up with a description for a "wheel".
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gcsmithjr
06-30-2009, 06:09 PM
The term you're looking for is actually spelled "wheal". It simply means "a small, burning or itching swelling on the skin, as from a mosquito bite or from hives."
Titchou
06-30-2009, 07:46 PM
Merriam-Webster defines it as " a suddenly formed elevation of the skin surface as a) welt, b) a flat burning or itching eminence on the skin." And it is spelled "wheal," as stated above.
juice39
07-02-2009, 10:16 AM
Thank you for the description. My allergy nurse (who gives my shots and checks the reaction) spelled it wheel on my papers and didn't explain the difference between a wheal or a lump, with redness around the lump. She notes if a wheal appears (which it seldom does); but does often note when I have a lump in the center of the redness. So I don't understand the difference between the two. But thanks for the description anyway.
Titchou
07-02-2009, 12:07 PM
The wheal is the redness out from the injection site. That was what they measured when you had you allergy testing - the size of the wheal indicates the severity of the allergy. The lump is part of it but does not indicate an allergic reaction per se.
Hope that helps.
Hope that helps.