Identifying Allergies
By editor | October 2, 2007
How can you tell if your child has allergies? After your child has been diagnosed with asthma, your physician or nurse practitioner may recommend ,allergy testing. If a tendency toward allergies runs in your family, allergy testing is even more important. By identifying and treating your child’s allergies, you’ll be doing a lot to reduce his asthma symptoms as well.
As with asthma itself, the first step in diagnosing allergies is a detailed family history and a discussion of your child’s symptom pattern. Knowing the type and pattern of symptoms is most helpful when making a diagnosis. For example, Charlotte’s parents noticed this pattern and reported it to her doctor: Charlotte sneezes most often in the fall (even though she doesn’t have a head cold) and when she’s around the neighbor’s dog. She is probably allergic to ragweed and animals. After the history is reviewed, the doctor will examine Charlotte and look for specific allergy symptoms.
The following descriptions can help you identify symptoms and patterns that you can relay to your child’s doctor and will be useful in diagnosis and treatment:
The intensely itchy rash of atopic dermatitis is usually easy to spot. In babies and young children, the rash is often on the face and scalp, but it may appear just about anywhere on the body except the diaper area. In older children, the rash is usually found where the skin creases at the elbows, knees, and neck, although it can also appear on the wrists, hands, ankles, and feet as well.
You may have noticed the most obvious symptoms of allergic rhinitis including:
- Sneezing many times in a row .
- Clear discharge from a continuously runny nose .
- Itchy nose, ears, mouth .
- Red, itchy eyes .
- “Allergic shiners,” those black circles under a child’s eyes caused by nasal congestion .
- The allergic salute: the child frequently swipes his hand upward across the tip of his nose .
As a side effect of the clogged nasal passages caused by allergic rhinitis, a child may have frequent ear infections or sinusitis that, in turn, can cause asthma flares. When the swelling from allergic rhinitis blocks a child’s ears, she can’t hear as well as usual. Allergic rhinitis may also make her irritable and tired, and it could affect her ability to concentrate in school.
Tagged under:allergic shiners allergies allergy allergy testing asthma symptoms atopic dermatitis head cold itchy nose itchy rash red itchy eyes symptoms of allergic rhinitis
Topics: Allergy |
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