A pediatric allergist can help determine what is triggering a
child's allergies. After taking a good history of suspected
allergic triggers, the allergist may recommend a prick skin test
to help confirm a child's allergies. The prick test can be used
at almost any age and is really quite easy and not painful.
During skin testing a small amount of the allergen (tree, grass,
dust, dog or cat dander) is placed on different areas of the
back and then after waiting about 15 minutes the doctor can look
for a local reaction which confirms sensitivity to the allergen.
By watching the local skin reaction to the allergen and
measuring the reaction the allergist can identify a child's
specific allergic triggers. For the very allergic child, this
may be the best way to plan an approach to further control your
child's allergies. Once the skin testing results are in, your
pediatrician and allergist may decide your child would benefit
from allergy shots. Unfortunately, allergy shots do not work
immediately and may require s