Jiki Medical Associates, LLC

Allergy Testing Q & A

What are allergies?

Allergies are the body’s overreaction to substances that normally aren’t considered harmful. When you’re exposed to allergy triggers either in your environment or in your diet, your immune system produces antibodies to defend against a perceived attack. These antibodies cause a variety of symptoms that can be severe enough to interfere with your quality of life.

Some of the most common allergy triggers include:

• Dust

• Mold

• Pollen

• Pet dander

• Insect bites or stings

You may also be allergic to certain foods, most often nuts, dairy products, and even certain ingredients in medications.

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What are the symptoms of allergies?

If you have seasonal allergies triggered by pollen or other environmental substances, you may experience symptoms that are similar to a cold, such as:

• Cough

• Runny nose

• Nasal congestion

• Itchy, watery eyes

Other allergy triggers can cause skin-related symptoms like itchiness and skin rashes.

If you eat foods or medicines that contain your allergy triggers, you may also experience skin issues and gastrointestinal discomfort.

For some with allergies, a severe reaction known as anaphylaxis is possible. Anaphylaxis causes sudden inflammation in your airways that makes it difficult to breathe. To protect your health, you need immediate medical treatment at the hospital or by calling 911.

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How are allergies diagnosed?

The team at Jiki Medical Associates offers comprehensive diagnostic services for allergies. The physicians first evaluate your health history and discuss your symptoms to ensure they relate to allergies and not another underlying medical condition.

To properly manage your allergies, it’s important to identify your specific triggers. The staff at Jiki Medical Associates offers in-office allergy testing to accomplish this. Testing involves pricking your skin with a suspected allergen, and the medical team evaluates your body’s reaction to the substance. 

If you test positive for an allergy, your skin will develop a raised bump that may be itchy in the area of injection.

The Jiki Medical Associates team can also identify allergies through bloodwork. After exposing you to certain allergens, they check your blood for antibodies that your immune system will produce in response to an allergen.

For food allergies, your provider may recommend eliminating certain foods from your diet and slowly adding them back in to evaluate your body’s reaction. Food allergies may also be identified through skin tests.

Treating allergies involves a combination of avoiding allergy triggers and medications that can both relieve existing symptoms and prevent new ones. For anaphylaxis, you may need to carry an injectable epinephrine medication that quickly reverses sudden inflammation to help you breathe better.

If you have symptoms of allergies and need to identify your triggers, schedule a consultation at Jiki Medical Associates, LLC today online or by calling the office.

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