Hi mamas,
My older son had allergy testing at 4.5 and after we found out what he is allergic to (bermuda grass and cats) we treat him Jan-May when he is at his worst. A couple months ago the ENT said my younger son 18 months at that time had signs of allergies. He is constantly coughing, sneezing, rubbing nose, and his nose is clogged up all the time or every once in a while clear drainage. The ENT suggested doing a blood test on him to see what the allergen is. Has anyone does this and is it accurate? My older son just had the standard pricks on his back. His allergy specialist said they don't do the pricks until at least 4-5 yrs. I have tried saline, natural remedies, etc. There are no food allergies.
My granddaughter had a blood test for allergies when she was a baby. She then had the skin pricks when she was older and they showed the same allergies. So, in her case, it was accurate.
I've read that a blood test is not as accurate as skin pricks but when a blood test is all that's available I'd give it a try. You at least know where to start in changing his environment.
I had the back pricks when I was 4 and then a blood test when I was 12. The blood test is very accurate and is the best that they can do.
Hope I helped!
Blood tests can create false positives, but it will at lest give you an idea of what to try to watch out for and how to treat it. In about a year or a year and a half, you can do the skin test and compare the results. I know your doc said 4-5 years, but my son started getting them younger than that for his food allergies.
They did the back pricks on my son at 12 months and 24 months. Not sure why they have to wait till 4. On the other hand, those tests never picked up any allergies but he still acts like he has them. So maybe I should ask for the blood test. We went to a pediatric allergist, btw.
I heard that they were pretty accurate.
The blood tests are accurate. I actually prefer the blood tests as a way of measuring allergies. Taking blood out of a young child can be difficult for both the parent and the child, but they can do a bunch of tests all at once. Also, you get back a number. The number determines if the child is allergic. If you do the test again as the child ages, you can see if the child is growing out of an allergy or if he is becoming more allergic.
For example, my son tested positive for nut, shellfish, and egg allergies (amongst other non-food items). His nut and shellfish values were like 100...super high. But his egg allergy was low....something like 5, which is a good indicator that he will outgrow the egg allergy, but not the nut allergy.
I find the skin prick test to be too subjective. If the child has sensitive skin, it could affect the results simply because the skin prick itself irritated the skin. I have one son that has eaten a half a peanut butter sandwich. When I had him tested, the person reading the results of his skin prick test wasn't sure about the peanut result and determined that he was allergic. But when I told the doctor he had eaten a PB sandwich the doctor said, "Then don't worry about it." So now I have this uneasy feeling...is he allergic or not? If he is allergic, could he start having issues later? I plan to have him blood tested before entering kindergarten so I know for sure.
BTW, my kids were 3 when they had the prick test. If there are a lot of allergies, the prick test can be unbearable for the child. I recommend bringing a small, battery operated fan or waving a magazine as a fan on the back of the child to help with the itching in that case.
Blood test:
Advantage: Test lots of allergens at once. Get a result number to track.
Disadvantage: Results take a few days. Need to draw blood.
Skin test:
Advantage: Immediate results (within 10-15 minutes), no blood draw.
Disadvantage: Somewhat subjective (especially for borderline results). Can be a miserable 10-15 minutes if strong allergies.
FYI, in either case, the result does not give an indication of what kind of reaction the child will have. A high number in a blood test result does not mean that the slightest contact will require the need of an epi pen. A low number doesn't mean that allergy symptoms will be minimal. The same goes for the skin prick test. For example, my skin prick test for cats doesn't give the strongest allergic reaction compared to other things I am allergic to, however, it is by far my worst allergy and can trigger asthma by just being in a house with a cat. The test also said I am allergic to dogs, but unless I touch a dog and then touch my face, I don't have any issues being in the room with them.
