Why Allergen Testing Is Helpful When You Deal with Allergy Symptoms
Whether you have constant or intermittent allergy symptoms, it's important to understand what causes them. It's frustrating to deal with itchy eyes, a nagging cough, or a runny nose all the time without knowing exactly why. When you struggle with allergies, talk to your doctor about allergen testing. Here's why testing for allergies is a good idea.
You'll Learn What To Avoid In Daily Life
When you have allergen testing done, the doctor can test you for multiple allergens with a skin test. This tests for things you're likely to encounter in your home and the outdoor environment. Once you know what you're allergic to, you can avoid the allergens as much as possible.
Testing Might Help You Reduce Medications
If it's possible to avoid the thing you're allergic to such as cats, then you might not have to take allergy medications all of the time if you can avoid cats. However, if you're allergic to multiple common allergens, you might need to have allergy shots or take medications to keep your allergies under control.
You'll Know How To Make Your Home Safer
It's not possible to control the outdoors, and you may not be able to do much to control allergens in your workplace, but you can take steps to make your home a safe oasis once you know what triggers your allergies. You might need to remove carpet to reduce dust mites, clean your air ducts to get rid of dust, keep pets out of your bedroom, install an air purifier, and avoid certain cleaning products to reduce or eliminate allergens in your home.
Knowing Your Allergens Might Save Your Life
While many allergy symptoms are mild and annoying, other allergy attacks could be life-threatening. Certain foods, insect stings, and medication allergies could cause a serious reaction that requires immediate medical attention.
Your allergist may need to do special testing to pinpoint food allergies, but once you know you're allergic to certain foods, you can avoid them and make the allergy known on your medical records so you're not exposed to them accidentally. If you're allergic to insect stings, you may need to carry an epinephrine pen with you all the time for immediate treatment if you're stung.
Allergy Testing Is Easy To Undergo
Basic allergy testing is safe and easy to go through, so there are only benefits to derive from the testing. Once your doctor knows your allergens, they can create a treatment plan that might include allergy shots that reduce your reactions over time. Allergen testing is the first step toward getting your allergy symptoms under control and for finding an effective treatment.