Doing your research on the different kinds of tests is important even once you’ve made the decision to get an allergy test. With the choice of options, there is more focus on understanding what is going to make one option better than the other, and for what reasons. One of the leaders, due to its widespread use within clinics, is a skin prick allergy test. However, there are some commonly skipped details that you won’t find when reading up on the test itself.
Considerations for a skin prick allergy test
Here are a few important details that often get left out of most educational packets when it comes to a skin prick allergy test and its potential interactions with the body.
• There is a potential for a serious reaction during the test: While having an anaphylactic allergic reaction is considered to be very rare during a skin prick test, it can happen. If you are prone to these kinds of reactions, knowing that there is a risk of this happening can help you figure out whether this is a risk you want to take or not.
• The results aren’t always accurate due to medications and skin conditions: There are a lot of different medication interactions possible as far as the test’s response and accuracy, check with us if you need to know more. If you have sensitive skin, this can also be an issue. Make sure that your skin is responsive to the test itself before booking the test.
• Food allergies aren’t always accurately diagnosed: Even in the best of scenarios, a skin prick allergy test isn’t always the best method for diagnosing food allergies. This is because the response is almost always internal. Since the allergen is only being inserted just under the skin, it might not set off an allergic reaction in the form of a welt. This creates false negatives.
• A secondary testing method is often recommended: For the reason above, food allergy testing often requires confirmation by a second allergy testing method. This is to make sure that the results match up from one to the other. If they don’t match up, a third option can also be required to confirm the diagnosis.
Despite the points and warnings above, there is still a scientific background to the skin prick allergy test, and many people have relied on it to help diagnose them accurately with food allergies in the past. The bottom line is that you should be choosing what kind of allergy test you get. The right choice for you is going to be determined by what makes the most sense for your comfort, your health concerns, and your overall peace of mind. Having a full picture of what goes into the test is an important part of making that choice. Whether you end up going with a skin prick allergy test or you decide to go with a blood sample test or even an oral test instead, information is always a good thing.
