Allergy Symptoms

Allergy symptoms are generic. In other words, the symptoms of one allergy do not differ from those of another. However, symptoms that appear to indicate an allergy may in fact indicate another health problem. This is why the diagnosis is so important.

In order to diagnose an allergy, your physician will generally perform two tests: a blood test and a skin test. Prior to performing these tests, it's easy for people to confuse their allergy symptoms with the symptoms of a cold. However, there are distinctions between these two conditions. First, colds are brought on after exposure to a virus, while allergies are brought on by exposure to an allergen. Next, colds generally run their cycle sometime between 2 to 14 days. Allergies may run for several months.

There are a variety of allergens, including plant pollens (such as birch trees, ragweed, rye grass and timothy grass), mold spores, medications (penicillin, salicylates, local anesthetics, sulfonamides), insect stings (bee venom, wasp sting), animal allergens (dust mite, dander, animal hair, cockroach calyx), latex products and foods (nuts, seafood, egg whites, sesame, soy, milk, wheat, corn, peas, soybeans, beans and other legumes).

Diagnosis And Treatment Of Allergies

Since there are dozens of possible sources of allergy symptoms, proper diagnosis can be a difficult process. For this reason, doctors use several methods in assessing allergens and arriving at an accurate diagnosis.

A skin test is usually the first diagnostic tool your physician will use to determine the allergen behind your allergy symptoms. This is done by applying small amounts of the suspected allergens (pollen, dander, drops of milk, nut extracts, etc) to the patient’s skin. When a patient experiences allergy symptoms, such as itching, reddening or swelling, within an hour after the test, he or she is allergic to that particular allergen.

Although the skin test is generally the preferred method of detecting the cause of allergy symptoms, it does have some drawbacks. For instance, some people may have a delayed reaction to an allergen and not display any symptoms for several hours or even days after the skin test.

Generally, the symptom that will be observed first will be an itchy patch of skin. The intensity may or may not increase over time, but the duration is proportional to the exposure time to the allergens. The itching will usually affect the nose as well.

In addition, people may experience a stuffed nose and watery eyes. Furthermore, the respiratory tract (including lung congestion, cough and wheezing) will be affected by most allergies (food allergies more commonly affect the gastrointestinal tract). In rare instances, people may also experience allergy asthma.

Medical treatments do not cure a sufferer from allergies. Instead, treatments are only effective in reducing allergy symptoms such as inflammation, rashes, and hives. The best approach for reducing allergy symptoms is the removal of the food or substance allergens from your home, office and other areas in which contact is most likely.