Allergy Testing in Carlsbad

From a stuffy nose and sneezing to anaphylactic shock allergies can wreak havoc on your daily life. This is even more true when you aren’t sure what you’re allergic to. At our Carlsbad office, we offer comprehensive allergy testing.

Allergy tests are a crucial part of a treatment plan. They can reveal what to avoid and the best treatment options.

Allergy Scratch Tests

Skin prick tests (also known as “scratch tests”) are a quick way to narrow down what might be causing your symptoms. We’ll expose your skin to an allergen by placing a small drop of fluid on your arm or back and gently pricking the skin. Then we’ll wait to see if your skin reacts.

Scratch tests don’t hurt and allow us to quickly test you for multiple allergens right in the office.

If the test comes out negative, you’re probably not allergic to that trigger. A positive result, however, may be a false positive. Scratch tests are extremely useful to help us identify what food groups and things we should watch, but sometimes a positive result means you’re actually allergic to a similar protein. Further testing might be necessary.

Blood Tests

While skin tests can offer almost immediate answers, sometimes a blood test is necessary. For example, if you have extremely sensitive skin, a scratch test may yield a number of false positives, or if you’re on allergy medication a blood test might make more sense. Blood tests also can have false-positive results, but often will “rate” your response which can be helpful. Results take up to two weeks.

Elimination Testing

Allergy testing is an invaluable first step in narrowing the list of possible allergens. The ultimate test, however, is eliminating the possible allergen and re-introducing it after a set time period. Once we have your allergy test results, we’ll walk you through this third option and possible treatments including immunotherapy.

Find out what you’re allergic to. Call or Text Us

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