How do doctors scan for allergies? Like the specific what are they looking for in the body and how.
In: Biology
There’s two tests I’m familiar with. There’s a blood test and a scratch test. The blood test they draw your blood and expose it to allergens. The scratch test they will apply a series of allergens to your skin and see what gives you hives.
The scratch test
http://juliequilts.blogspot.com/2011/11/food-allergy-skin-tests.html?m=1
When I took an allergy test as a child they had a bunch of what looked like needles that had different common allergens on the end. They basically touched the needles to my skin and waited. After a few minutes if the area on the skin reacted,by turning red/swollen like a bug bite then that would be an indicator that you are allergic to that substance. That was probably 30 years ago.
Disclaimer: The last time I was put through this process I was a kid, so it may be different now.
To test what I was allergic to I was put in a room with a nurse and she had tinctures of all different kinds of allergens in them in the form of a liquid. She had me hold my arms out and she dropped just a bit of each one in it’s own spot and the ones that make the skin red and irritated are deemed to be the things you are allergic to.
I am now wondering myself if there are other methods of doing this, especially for more severe types of allergies such as anaphylaxis.
It’s not a scan, it’s a skin test – they prick your skin with needles and put a bit of the possible allergen in the spot, then watch to see if your skin reacts (with redness or a raised spot).
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