Allergy Testing: Find Out What You Actually React To
Allergy testing shows what your immune system reacts to: pollens, mold, dust mites, pets, and sometimes foods. We test two ways. A skin prick test puts tiny amounts of allergen just under your skin, and we read it about 15 minutes later. A blood test measures allergy antibodies instead. With a skin test, we measure and explain your results in the same visit, so you leave with a plan.
Testing usually makes sense if sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, drip down your throat or itchy eyes keep coming back. Also if your symptoms hit the same months every year, if you get sinus infections more than two or three times a year, or if allergy medicine that used to work has stopped. It helps too if you are considering allergy shots or drops and want to know what is on your list first. If a daily antihistamine or a nasal spray already controls your symptoms, you do not need testing.
One thing to sort out before you come in: stop your allergy medicines. Antihistamines block the very reaction a skin test looks for. If they are still in your system, the test can read negative even when you are allergic, and the visit is wasted. Stop oral antihistamines about 5 to 7 days before your test. Zyrtec, Claritin, Allegra, Xyzal, Clarinex and Benadryl all count, and so do antihistamine nasal sprays and eye drops. Night-time pain relievers, multi-symptom cold products and motion-sickness pills often contain an antihistamine, so check the label or bring the box. Keep taking your nasal steroid spray, your inhalers, and anything else prescribed to you. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own. Bring your medication list, or the bottles, and we will tell you what to stop and when. Or call (678) 689-1100 before your visit and ask.
Plan on about an hour for a skin prick test, including the 15-minute wait.
Here is how the hour goes. You check in and do paperwork. Come 15 minutes early if you are new. A clinician goes through what happens to you, when and where, and that conversation decides which allergens get tested. We mark a grid on your forearm or upper back, and a small plastic device presses each allergen into the surface of your skin. Two controls go on as well, so we know whether the test can be trusted. Then you wait about 15 minutes, in the room rather than in a car or a hallway. Do not scratch. Scratching ruins the read. We measure each spot, read your results against your history, and give you the next step before you leave.
It is not a needle stick. Most people describe the prick as a scratch or a light pinch. The itching from a positive spot bothers them more than the test does. The bumps usually settle within a few hours, and you can drive yourself home and go back to work. The risk, stated plainly: a skin prick test uses tiny amounts of allergen, and a whole-body allergic reaction is uncommon but not impossible. That is why testing is done in a medical office, with epinephrine on hand and staff watching you, and why we do not send you out the door the moment the test is read. Tell us before we test if you have ever had a severe allergic reaction, and bring the bottle if you take a beta blocker.
What it costs depends on your plan and on how many allergens we test. Most plans cover allergy testing when your symptoms give a documented reason for it, but coverage and the amount you owe are specific to your plan. Four things about the bill are worth knowing before you book:
Why can’t I just go to an allergy testing facility?
A walk-in lab tests you. It does not treat what the test finds.
A walk-in lab can tell you what you react to. It cannot tell you how those triggers are feeding sinus infections, ear pressure, or congestion that wrecks your sleep, and it cannot treat any of it. Here, the same visit looks at your nose and sinuses, reads your test against your history, and sets up what comes next: what to avoid, a change in medicine, or a conversation about allergy shots or drops. Our clinicians are Dr. David Dillard, MD, FACS, Dr. Magalie Nelson-Charles, MD, Emily Dye, PA-C, and Nisha Rama, PA-C. One caveat we give every patient: a positive test on its own is not a diagnosis. It means your immune system has made antibodies to something, and plenty of people test positive to things that never bother them. That is why we test what your history points at rather than the longest list available. It is also why we do not offer IgG food-sensitivity panels or ALCAT testing, and do not recommend mail-in kits. Those methods are not validated for diagnosing allergy.
Children are tested here regularly, and most handle it better than their parents expect. We test a shorter list on a child, chosen from the history rather than a full adult panel. For small children the test often goes on the back instead of the forearm, so they cannot rub it during the wait. A parent or guardian stays in the room the whole time. Children's Zyrtec, Children's Claritin and Children's Benadryl have to stop on the same 5 to 7 day schedule as the adult versions, which catches a lot of families out. A blood test is the fallback for a child who cannot sit through the wait. It is also the better route for anyone who cannot stop an antihistamine, whose skin is too reactive or eczema-covered to read reliably, or who has had a severe reaction in the past. Call (678) 689-1100 to talk through your child's age and what we would test. We see patients Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, at our Lawrenceville office at 1990 Riverside Pkwy, Suite 100, and our Watkinsville office at 1715 Resurgence Drive, Suite 101, which serves the Athens area.
Nothing on this page is medical advice. Individual results vary. Whether a treatment is right for you is decided at an in-person evaluation.
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