Allergy Testing for 13 Month Old

This response is really not about allergy testing but a cream that I have used on my granddaughter who has excema. It is called Renew and is sold by Melaleucca which is not sold in stores but by individuals. I am not trying to sell you anything but just want you to know that it helped my granddaughter very much and I recommend this product to others who share her problem.

My son, now 16 months has food allergies. He has gone through the testing for allergies using both skin and blood. The skin testing was pretty easy and my child handled it well. The blood testing is hard because they have to draw blood from one so small. However, both have been reliable and we know the exact foods and other allergens to keep him away from. You will be glad for the answers!

My daughter was 5 yrs. old and had ear/hearing issues... but I would suggest seeing a pediatric dermatoligist first. It could be as simple as switching detergent or soap. If that doesn't help, then find an allergist who works with children. My daughter's allergist was a Pediatrician before he went into allergy practice and his stethoscope 'sounds like' Donald Duck!

ok there are two ways to allergy test. the first one is too draw some blood and they then test the blood that they draw. so the only part your child has to go through is the blood draw. the second way is to take a patch of skin usually on the inner arm or on their back and do the test there. they usually scrape or lightly inject different substances that your little one could be allergic to and see if the skin welps or gets irrated to see if they are allergic to it. this one might be a little more irrating because your little one will have to deal with the end results if you have any allergic results, but remember a little discomfort isnt horrable when your finding something out that will improve their everyday life. Let me tell you as a sufferer of allergies myself it was well worth the testing to get the end results of finding out what exactly I was allergic and getting the correct meds to help in the areas that I couldnt elimate from my life. good luck with your little one. J.

WE had similar issues with our son at the same age. We had him allergy tested. They did skin testing, which seemed to tickle more than hurt and he didn't shed a tear. The only hard part was getting him to be still :) As it turns out he was allergic to eggs and peanuts. Good luck with your son and his testing.

BTW our son is now 2 and is testing negative for both allergies, although we still struggle with eczema.

i have a 10 year old little boy and he was tested a few years ago. it is no longer painful he said it didnt hurt at all. i give him oatmeal baths to help him my doctor also said rub benadrel on the spots that itched. the test helped alot . it told me things that he could not be around at all. he is now only on overcounter meds.

I had one child with a similar problem, Drs didnt know what to do, I had a 90 yr old friend and she told me to try vitamin E oil (she said it wont hurt him) and I did and it worked, he is now 47 and has no problem at all.
M.

You really need to look at this from a nutritional standpoint. When you are researching....look for ECZEMA (correct spelling) or dermatitis. What is his diet like? I have done EXTENSIVE research over the years and with rare exception....almost ALL problems....anything from skin, hair and nails to cancer are related to toxicity or nutritional deficiencies. I'd advis you to own copies of ENCYCLOPEDIA of NATURAL HEALTH & HEALING FOR CHILDREN by Weber and PRESCRIPTION FOR NUTRITIONAL HEALING by Balch. VERY user friendly and they give you specifics.
1. Does he take vitamins of any kind?
2. Add brown rice and millet to the diet (don't know where he is with eating right now..might want to consider pureeing) Get the book.......FEED ME I'M YOURS
3. Avoid eggs, peanuts, soy foods, wheat and dairy products. If he eats eggs, you could eleminate those first and see if things change. If not, eliminate soy, if he gets it, not any changes, etc.
4.DOCUMENT EVERYTHING HE'S EATING..it will be MUCH easier down the road and for your physician
5. Avoid sugar, strawberries, chocolate, white flour, fats - especially hydrogenated - in almost EVERYTHING processed....fried foods and all processed foods.
6. Even look at the labels on whatever foods you're giving him. You may not be aware of hidden ingredients or chemicals.
7. You might want to try tea tree oil for his scalp & face, avoiding the eyes. I LOVE this for the skin. I've used cleansing lotions with tea tree oil and they're wonderful!
8. Olive oil is another option. Biblically, olive oil was used also for the skin and has wonderful properties.

I could go on, but I'll stop here. Hope this helps. D.

My son was 2 before we had to endur the allergy testing. He had a respitory reaction to nuts. They did the skin testing and it was negative, but the RAST was positive for dangerous allergy to tree nuts. When he had skin testing 3 years ago they tested on the arm. Apparently the back is more sensitive. We are actually retesting him next week because we suspect he may have developed additional allergies. We are doing the skin testing because the allergist wants to screen him for environmental allergies as well and she feels the skin test is more accurate for the environmental allergens. For food I think the RAST is as accurate or more accurate than the skin test. We will see how it goes next week. Good luck, I hope you find an answer that will help relieve his eczema.

Hi S.,

I had to get my oldest tested when she was about three. It was not painful but not comfortable either. The real problem being that it is a long process. They have to wait in between each round of testing to see if there is a reaction. My youngest had excema terribly bad from about three weeks till about 8-9 months. She bled something awful from all the scratching at night. I look back at pictures now and it looks like a set her face on fire. She has been fortunate, she has grown about 99% out of it and she is 18 months. We had steroids and a few differnt creams, so I totaly understand your concerns and frustrations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!! K. T.

Please do get your child tested for allergies! ou daughter also had severe eczema and was about 2 when she was tested. Turns out there were many food allergies in addition to environmental ones. The testing involves pricking your child with each suspected allergen - it is somehwat painful, your child will cry and you probably will too! Since your son is so young, they will likely do the prick testing on his back. But it was so helpful to know the causes of her misery. she is now 15 and her eczema is pretty well controlled. See if there is a pediatric allergist in your area.

It may also be helpful to see a dermatologist - ours was a tremendous resource - both in terms of mediciations, but also in terms of giving us ideas on how to try and make her more comfortable. Still is as a matter of fact!

By the way, my husband and I don't have allergies either.

Good luck! Hang in there! You might want to put socks over his hands at night - that was usualy when my daughter scratched the worst - without even knowing it!

My son was tested when he was 3 yrs. old. He tested negative to everything but we all concluded that they were obviously false negatives. They said that sometimes kids test negative that young and that he should probably be re-tested when he got older. We were told that 3 was the youngest then because of testing negative...they hadn't really had a chance to be exposed to much to have an allergy to different things...make sense? Anyway, from our point of view, the testing did nothing. I have gotten so much more information from paying attention to allergen reports for the area, watching his reactions to different environmental things (cats, cigarettes, trees, grass), etc. I don't wear perfume, I use dye free laundry detergent, I don't burn candles, I watch what cleaning products I use, etc. I think that has been far more valuable for us than the testing. I'm not saying the testing isn't valuable...I just think 3 yrs. old was too young for our son to test positive to anything and so it was a waste of time, money, and it put him through a few hours of total discomfort.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter has eczema, and her doctor recommended the Aveeno Eczema Care and the Soothing Relief products to manage it. They both work pretty well. My mom works with a lady whose daughter also has eczema, and she turned us on to a product called Renew by a company called Melaleuca (melaleuca.com), and it works VERY well. Her skin is almost back to normal, and we only have to use the steroid creams in the case of a severe breakout.
Definitely have him tested for allergies. It won't hurt him too much....they'll most likely just take a tube of blood and test that, as opposed to using the scratch test (though you may want to do that later just to see if he has outgrown any allergies or developed new ones). My daughter turned out to have a life threatening peanut allergy (we found that out the hard way, which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy), so that's something we have to watch out for. Try removing anything that comes into contact with your son that might contain dyes, perfumes, etc. If you have pets, that can exacerbate the skin problems, but keeping the pet clean with regular grooming can help that a bit. The eczema can be caused by a sensitivity to dairy, so you might think about eliminating that from his diet for a week or two and see if it doesn't make a difference in his skin condition.
I know it is sometimes overwhelming to have these conditions turn up when you're not used to them. Neither my husband or I have these kinds of allergies (although I am severely lactose intolerant, but not allergic), and while my oldest daughter seems to be suffering a sudden bout of itchy skin, I attribute it to the fact that we just moved to Ohio from Florida and her skin is acclimating to the lack of humidity and the cold dry air of winter.
I hope that I have given you some useful suggestions. Good luck...and cross your fingers. I read somewhere that most kids outgrow eczema by the time they are 4.

I have a daughter with eczema. No one else in our family has it either. It was never suggested that she be allergy tested however they did have her on steroids as well. Someone suggested using noxzema and had articles printed from the computer about how it works for exzema. It is safe and despite what i thought it does not burn at all. It worked very well and as she is getting older we have less and less problems with the exzema. I hope this helps.
Sincerely,D.

Hi, sorry to hear about your problem. I have 3 boys ages 8, 6, & 4. My 6 year old has severe eczema & has had it since he was about 3 months old. He sees a dermatologist every year & has a prescription ointment that he uses when it flares up. Unfortunately at that age, the prescription stuff isn't recommended. They now have a product out however called "baby eczema wash" (has winnie the pooh on the bottle can be found at walmart, rite aid, etc), I don't know how helpful it will be at that age, but I use it on my 6 year old in the winter which is when his eczema is the worst, and it helps considerably. Unfortunately for your baby eczema can't be "cured" or "fixed" all you can do is try to ease the discomfort as much as possible & keep in mind that most kids grow out of it. Good luck!

Allergy testing can be very painful...however there is a topical cream you can put on before the testing to help reduce the pain. If your son is drinking milk, try cutting it back to one cup or bottle a day and see if there is any improvement. Also, you can buy something called Zim's Crack Cream at any drug store or Wal Mart. My son had a spot of excema on his cheek for over 2 yrs that would seep and the steriod creams did not help. After I found Crack Cream it was cleared up in 2 weeks with just 2 applications a day and has never come back. My 14 yr old daughter also uses it for her flare ups and it works wonders for her! Good luck!

Hi S., My three year old son had terrible eczema from the time he was only two months old. We had him tested for allergies when he was about 20 months old because he was also breaking out in hives and throwing up after meals. They had to draw blood and they tested him for about 10 different foods (it was a traumatic experience for both him and me...but worth it). The allergist will be able to decide what to actually look for and they have a way of rating how allergic he really is. We still use the steroid cream on his eczema occasionally. He knows what makes him "sick" because we have been able to teach him (milk and eggs). I will say too that the allergist told us he was allergic to soy, peanuts, and wheat too...but he has always been able to eat these foods without any reaction. It was confusing for us at first to understand, but we have come to understand that his body has already built up a tolerance for these foods. Now we just hope it will be able to have milk and eggs someday too!! :) It is really just a way of life now and we are used to avoiding those foods. I would love to write more, but my little girl is wanting some playtime with mommy!! :)

My son had really bad allergies and we didn't know it until he was about 2. We were trying all kinds of topical steroids as well. We finally took him to the allergist and had him tested when he was throwing up all the time after I stopped nursing him and he had been on milk for a few months. He also had really bad skin rashes like you described that didn't start until he was on milk. We didn't conect it to the milk at the time though. When he was tested it turned out he was allergic to all things dairy! We switched him to soy products (which meant no ice cream, yogurt, milk, cheese, etc...) and his skin got sooo much better as did the throwing up. The testing was easy, they give tiny little pricks on the back, if they are allergic they turn red and get a little bigger, if not they don't react. It doesn't take too long and it is sooo worth it if you find out they are. He was also allergic mildly to a few other things like red food dye but the big time one was dairy. In a sense we were poisoning the poor kid and had no clue! He is so much better now and loves his chocolate soy milk, soy yogurt, soy pudding, and soy ice cream! He needs his cream every once in a while, like if he has some pizza with friends but otherwise he is mostly rash free!

Here's an alternative...it's called Allergy Elimination. Osteo Med II in Middleburg Heights offers a way to reverse allergies. I had it done and it worked great for me. I'll be taking my 7 month old in for his milk allergy soon. They did draw blood from me, but the treatments are non-invasive. Best of luck.

http://www.osteomed2.com/AllergyElimination.html

I know a great Doctor who works with all ages. He is currently treating my husband for allergies. Excema is usually related to allergies and can be treated naturally. The Doc is Roger Spahr. His office number is ###-###-#### (scheduling) or 800-272-7428 (voicemail). He also has an e-mail address ____@____.com His concept is "good medicine, smart nutrition"

The allergy tests now are very simple. Dr. Sphar is able to test is thru small blood samples. The finger is pricked and blood is dropped onto a testing strip, which is then sent to the lab. We did this a couple of weeks ago, and my husband didn't even cry. :)

And Dr. Spahr can and set up a treatment which will, if possible, avoid the use of drugs. He is really a great Doc, I know you will like him.

Hi S.! When my daughter was 2, she was tested for allergies. It's nothing. They don't use needles anymore, only scratch tests. It didn't hurt her at all. She actually giggled during it because it tickled her back. I say definitely do it.

My son is autistic and we found out when he was almost 2 years old that he was allergic to nuts. When he was tested they had him take off his shirt and lie on his stomach and they put different samples on his back that they thought he might be allergic to. (Grass, dust mites, nuts, eggs, bananas, etc.) He had to lie there for 15 minutes and then the doctor measured how big the lumps were, if there were any. My son didn't like lying there that long, but it wasn't painful. He just couldn't itch his back and he was a bit uncomfortable. We found out he was allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, and Brazil nuts, as well as eggs and bananas, although he has no problem eating eggs and bananas now. He gets tested every year for the nut allergies and he's still allergic, but thankfully he doesn't have a strong reaction to any nuts, and he doesn't seem to like them anyway. Hope that helps.

Hi S.,

I have a three year old son we just had allergy tested. They did a simple blood draw - venipuncture at the bend in the arm. It may sting for a minute but they recover quickly. They also do skin tests for allergies but I don't think they do it very often in the little ones.
My understanding with the allergy test - even the blood tests- is they test for the now and may be different in a few months or years.
Good luck!!

C.

Hi S.,
I just had my 6 month old tested, and it was really not bad. They just take a plastic pic and dab their back, then they put a liquid that contains the allergen they are testing for on that scratch. Your little one may itch, and it will be hard to kepp him from trying to get at his back, but outside of the itching it was not bad at all!! The whole process took like 2 min for them to run thr scratch test and like 10 min for the results. Then they remove the stuff and put some cream on it that helps it go away. She was fine and the hives were gone by the time we got home. Good luck to you and feel free to contact me if you have other quetions.

My son went through allergy testing at 10 months. They did a scratch test, where they placed about 6 drops on his back to see what he reacted to. After they place the drops on the back, you had to wait about 15 minutes. They had tons of toys to distract him during this time. All in all, it was not a horrible experience. He did have a minor reaction to milk so we followed that test up with a blood test for confirmation. Hope it all goes well. My son will get re-tested at 15 months to see if he out-grew the allergy.

The testing is relatively painless but certainly a little bothersome. My two younger kids have been through it on more than one occasion, and they cry and squirm. It really does not hurt so much but they do not like being bothered at that age.

My two have also had severe eczema. My youngest has what you are describing on his scalp as well as in other areas. He has multiple and severe food allergies. Although we try to avoid his allergens, they have never been able to identify all of them. The scratch tests that are commonly performed by traditional allergists cannot identify everything, particularly those that are a delayed reaction. These tests generally identify dust, molds, pollen, etc allergens well, but are less reliable for a range of food reactions.

If your baby has any other symptoms such as reflux, high activity levels, dark circles under the eyes, or chronically runny nose, you may try eliminating milk products for a few days. To get a good trial, try removing all milk for 4 to 5 days to see if things improve.

K.
Mother of 8, 5, and 3 year olds

Try removing dairy from his diet.

Hi S.. My opinion is the earlier you test them, the better it is for everyone. Our son started allergy testing at about 6 months old. He is now 2, and we have him tested every 6 months. It's not fun, but what doctor's visit really is, right?! The skin test for us was just as it has already been described by another mom, except my son did not have to lay still the whole time. So, it's not painful but uncomfortable when it shows up positive, it itches a lot. Once we get the test read though, we give him Benadryl to take the itch away. We have only had to have the blood test once, since his skin has still shown up positive each time.

When we finally found out all the foods he was allergic to, his eczema has gone away almost completely! It still shows up in very small patches with the change of seasons & sometimes in the winter, but nothing like when he was younger. We also changed all of our detergents, lotions & soaps for him. Here are the products that we use:

Laundry Detergent: All Free & Clear (but Tide has a version too)
Bath Soaps: Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Creamy Wash (fragrance free) & Aquaphor Gentle Wash (soap-free, fragrance-free cleanser)
Lotion: Aquaphor Healing Ointment (very goopy but works great)

Hope this helps, and please feel free to contact me if you have more questions.

I am familiar with this condition as my 2nd child(a boy) had excema starting at 3 weeks until he was 3 years old. The Drs. recommended minimal bathing per week, using cetaphil lotion and keeping them as cool as possible. Lightweight clothing, short sleeves, out of the sun, hats that cover the head as well as ears. Skin tests were not performed until age 3yrs. due to the amount of broken skin already present on the child's body. Normally they have a child sit on the side of a bed or lie on their tummy. Tiny droplets of allergans are touched to the skin and then a lancet makes a tiny scratch at the site of each droplet. It is important to keep the child from moving so as not to allow one droplet of allergan to touch another droplet and cross mix the results. Obviously this would be a difficult feat for a 13 month old. After all the droplets have been applied and the skin pricked they allow about 15-20 minutes to pass and then record the size and reaction to each of the various allergans. The skin will show a hive at each spot that it is allergic to the droplet. Our son was then started on weekly allergy injections that we continued until he was 18 yrs old.

Hi S.. I know of a product that has helped a lot of people with allergies and has helped clear up eczema. It's called OPC-3 and is all natural. If you want more information about it, just let me know.

Good luck!
B.
###-###-####

Hi S.,

I know what you are going through. My daughter who is now 6 had to go through these tests from 4 months til 3 yrs. They are painful, I hate to say. What they do is take a series of allergins on a board of pins unsaully 6 per pad. They then push it into the child for me it was her back. They have to lay very still to see if any reaction occurs and it is important the don't run together so you don't get a false positive. I can say for me the few minutes like that were better that the reactions she had and how long they lasted other wise.

Good luck!
P.

S., we just had our nine month old daughter's allergies tested last week because she has eczema too. I'm SO glad we did it because she has several allergies, including a pretty severe peanut allergy. She handled the test like a CHAMP! She didn't cry at all, and she was smiling at the end! I definitely recommend the test.

I have had all three of my children tested for allergies. My middle son was first tested at 11 months of age in the hospital - after he had a severe asthma attack as a result of unknown food allergies and was in ICU on a respirator for 3 days and 3 more days on the pediatric floor. He had very bad eczema on his face, especially his cheeks and around his mouth (probably because of the food allergies) and had a cold that wouldn't stop. Now we know it wasn't really a cold. At 11 months, they did a blood test in the hospital. After he was released we went to an allergist who did the prick test - which is several tiny pricks in the back.

He was retested again last year at 6 years of age with the prick test. It seems that that is the test most allergist prefer.

My daughter has always had chronic and sometimes very bad eczema. She was also tested, but at 6 years old. She has moderate to severe seasonal allergies.

My youngest was tested this year at 3 yrs and thankfully has no allergies.

Neither my husband nor I have any food or seasonal allergies. And no one in either of our families has a history of food or seasonal allergies, but we still have two kids with moderate to very severe allergies. You just never know.

So to answer your question, I would definantly go see an allergist. I would find a pediatric allergist in your area. The allergy testing, as a mentioned before, is usually a skin test where they actually put very small amounts of common and/or suspected allergens under the skin on the back. If the kids are allergic, those spots look like a mosquito bites and itch for a brief period of time (my kids doctor put a cream on them after the testing to alleviate the itching). I imagine it feels like a pin prick. My kids were tested for 54 allergens (both seasonal and food - but they were both quite severe. I don't imagine the doctor would do that many with a 13 month old. Good luck.

I am a SAHM with a 10 year old, 7 year old, and 3 1/2 year old.

Both of my children have been tested, the skin prick on the back and the needles in the arms. Both kids have eczema and have since right before 6 months old. I have eczema too. Their eczema has gottne better with time, they are 5 and 7 and it doesn't bother them and is not on the face. Keep the nails trimmed at all times and that helps. I do use Elidel on my kids because the other stuff has not helped but I also keep the skin moist, keep bathing to a minimum, etc. My son was allergic to every single thing they tested him for. Grass, mold, dust, trees, pollen, cats, dogs, even tree nuts(separate testing, he had a reaction). He takes allergy shots now and is doing much better with both the eczema and his allergy symptoms. My daughter has allergies but nothing was "big" enough to show up. That means she will not have to have allergy shots but takes an over the counter allergy medicine. I do not remember having my eczema until I was 18 but have probably have had it my whole life. Most people outgrow it completely.

Hi S.,
Check out this web site, it is an all natural product that has helped adults and children with all sorts of issues, excema being one of them. If you have any questions, would like to try it please let me know. My son and I drink it and feel great. We both got sick when we first came here from Australia due to allergies, both prescribed allergy drugs, puffer, nasal sprays...neither of us take any meds at all.
www.monavie.com
Take care, good luck!
S..

We had our son tested at a young age. While there is a little discomfort... he did cry, it was over quickly and he was happy by the time we were ready to leave the office. I highly reccomend it. At this point you have nothing to lose. Hopefully you can figure out what is causing the problem. Best of luck.

Hi S.,

I had my 16 month old tested since his skin would swell up if he would touch certain foods which we could not pin-point. They did a blood test which gave a basic idea but still didn't give us exact answers. We are now going to let him have the skin test. My 5 year old had it done last month and the test itself does not hurt at all. They basically touch the skin with a sharp piece of plastic but you can't even see were or if the skin is broken. The hardest part for him was to lay on his tummy for 15 minutes to not to move the solutions they put on his back.
I think it is definitely worth the hassle since it might indeed be something you can stop using (certain soaps, laundry detergents etc.). We even have our 5 year old on the allergy shots since his allergies are very severe. In about 5 years 99% of the people who receive the shots build up a tolerance and don't need meds anymore.
Since it is excema though I am wondering if you can use a cream for the itch?

Good luck!

I know where you are coming from. My son has had this since he was very little. I have found that certain foods trigger it and I try to stay away from them. eggs and yogurt are his top reactor. I also stopped the steroid cream, I now use vaseline or Crisco shortening and it works great, and it doesn't sting his skin. The only other thing that helped take it away is sunshine, good luck

My daughter was 13 months old when our ped. recommended going to an allergist. I was more worried about the testing than she was. It did entail having the scratch testing dodne on her beck and she did surprisingly well -- not one tear. That was three yrs ago and we go back every year to have her retested (she is allergic to eggs). We were fortunate that the eggs were her only allergy and we can regulate it very easily. We don't have to worry about daily medication for her allergies unlike our 8 yr old who has many environmental allergies and she was 6 when she was tested. Believe it or not our youngest did better with the testing than our oldest. I would make an appointment and see what the allergist has to say. Our ped told us that eczema is usually an indication of a food allergy which can be regulated and usually doesn't require daily meds. I hope I was of some help. Good luck.

S.,
We went through the exact same thing when our daughter was about 15 months old. Since about 6 months, she developed eczema so bad, they had to give her oral steroids and antibiotics for the skin infections she got from scratching so much. We were going crazy. Then our pediatrician had us get an allergy test. There are two kinds of allergy tests -- the skin prick test and the blood test, called the RAST test. RAST tests are better, in my opinion, because they tend to give false negatives, whereas the skin prick tests can give false positives. RAST tests require a certain amount of blood for each food allergen the doctor wants to investigate. Skin prick tests are done on the patient's back. They lightly touch/prick the skin with a small amount of liquid containing the allergen and they wait ten minutes to see how big of a hive (like a misquito bite) develops. The skin test is not painful--just have to give them benadryl cream after the test to help clear the hives. Blood test involves a blood draw, which our little one never liked, but there are lidocaine creams out there that may help.

We found out that our daughter had a life threatening allergy to peanut and smaller allergies to tree nuts. We were glad to find this out before giving her peanut butter!

Sometimes eczema is caused from a food allergy. In my daughter's case, the eczema just indicated that she was atopic, when means that she's predisposed to food allergy and she's at risk of developing other allergic conditions like asthma later on.

I would recommend going to an allergist to get the testing. I would be happy to talk or email with more details.

Hi S., I understand your concern about giving your baby steroids. My kids were tested for allergies in Junior High school and went on the shots. After several years of the very expensive shots, a retest for allergies showed very, very little improvement. They quit taking the shots. They don't have any problems now, as they have apparently outgrown their allergies.

I have some baby skin care products. I would be glad to send you a sample. There are no chemicals. They are botanically based. No charge, no strings. If you would accept these, please send your mailing address to me at ____@____.com.

I wish you all the best in caring for your son.

As children become older they tend to outgrow the severeness of excema. However, he may still need to continue a oil or lotion regimen. No big deal.

Testing is not like it used to be years ago. They can draw blood and test for a large number of items. Also, they can do a panel test on the back and prick the skin about 20 times to see if there are any reactions to the serum. Request the doctor to use a topical skin anesthetic. It takes about 1 hour to take effect. Then begin the testing.

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I had my son tested at about 11 months old. He had excema pretty badly. His face would also swell very badly. The doctors did not want to test him for allergies at that age but I insisted. I just had to figure out what was causing this. He is now 4 years old and has asthma, peanut allergies, egg white allergy, and garlic. I learned that the excema is usually a manifestation of something else. The testing will help you get to the root of what is causing the excsema. So I think it is worth the testing. The asthma (which came later) is a manifestation of the allergies but can be managed if taken care of properly. It was such a relief to know so that I could manage his food intake. Getting back to your question, he was tested for the food allergies first, it was a blood test. They asked me to write down all of the foods he had been exposed to at that poiint. So he was tested for a variety of foods. It was no more difficult than getting a shot. We also had the test for indoor/outdoor allergies done. He has those type allergies as well...dogs, dust mites etc. The allergist can test for these types of allergies in his office . They swab your back with a numbing solution...then they have a little small needle with the allergen in it, they prick your back (it takes literally a second) and then you wait for the reaction. So for example each mark on your back represents a different allergen (cats, dust mites, tree pollen, rag weed, dogs etc). You have to sit and wait (in the office) to see which ones welt up (like a mosquito bite sort of) which indicates there is an allergy to that item. Bring toys to keep him occupied and help him to keep his mind off of it because his back will itch while waiting. It is really not painful they just itch. I hope I'm making sense. I don't know all of the medical terms. So based on that, you will create a treatment plan with the doctor. Most importantly, I think it is best to start with the food allergy testing which is a blood test. You may want to consider the other testing a bit later.

I insisted that my little one be allergy tested at one year. His big brother, dad and I all have allergies. He thus far has lucked out. I chose to do it because of repeated respiratory infections. I also had skin tests for about 15 years. These memories are fond one because after my sister and I got done with the testing, Mom would treat us with a special lunch at a resturant of our choosing.

Also eliminating dairy from my son's diet decreased his ecezma to almost nothing (cream 1/3 months). His wasn't as severe as your little one's but there is research to link dairy to increased trouble with ecezema.

Hope this helps

One of my friends had her 2 year old tested for allergens. It was called the 100 prick test. It was really essential that they did the testing. They found out that he was allergic to bleach and formaldehyde and several other chemicals found in household cleaning and laundry products. She completely changed over to all-natural cleaning products and bath and body products (formaldehyde or Q-15 is found in baby wash and lotions and some shampoos too) and he is doing just fine now - no more problems. Good luck!

I don't know about allergy testing but when my son had excema his pediatrician kept offering different lotions and creams and refused to send us to a dermatologist. After 1.5 years we got sick of nothing working and went to another Dr to give us a dermatologist referral. The Derm gave us medicine that cleared it up in about a week! If your insurance allows, I recommend Dr. Patricia Treadwell ###-###-####)at Riley. She's nationally ranked and just a great doctor.

Hello S.. I've been going through the same thing with my family and recently found a site on the internet that led me to some products that have made all the difference in the world. I don't know if they will help your family but it sure might be worth checking out. This is the site: http://www.ahealthcafe.com/wood

I had my now 9-yr old son allergy tested when he was about the same age as yours. It was scarey but it answered alot of questions for us. We were able to find the right medication instead of trying this or that. And we were able to avoid food or environmental allergens which helped him have less reactions. Fortunately, he has outgrown most over the years as it gets harder and harder to control the environmental allergens (at friends houses, school, etc) So if you can figure it out now go for it. As for the actual procedure, they did it on his back. He laid down on the exam table and I sat next to his head and sang songs and rubbed his head. He cried a little but actually fell asleep before it was all over. I hope this helps. Good luck!

My daughter who is just about 6 had to have allergy testing when she was 18 months old. Within 3 weeks time she was in the hospital twice because she couldn't breath. The test was done in the allergy doctor's office and it consisted of pricks on the back. The "needles" looked like guitar picks with a sideways very tiny needle and it just pokes their back. Some of my daughters pricks bled but most of them didn't. She had 28 of them. The hardest part was fear I think because of not knowing what was going on and also having to be held down. They have to lay flat so the liquid of the pricks don't run into one another. If they run together the test in inaccurate. If you feel it is necessary and/or you have had a second opinion, I would say do it. It is bad at the time but heals quickly and my daughter doesn't remember it. I believe if she had to have it now, she would remember it more. There is also a drug called versed, that they may be able to use to make him a little less alert. I don't know if it is approved for children that little but my daughter had it when she had to have a bladder cath. Also, knowing what she was allergic to has been wonderful so we know what to keep her away from.

My DD was tested for food allergies at 16 months and it involved drawing blood. I'm sure she doesn't remember it, but it was traumatic for me! If you get a good tech, it should be over in less than five minutes.

I had my daughter tested with NAET. It is an alternative to traditional testing ...totally non-invasive. Our practitioner is Karen Marshall, she is off of 131st and 37. Its really quite amazing!! you can look it up on-line to get more info. and to see if it would work for you. Good luck!

My husband and I have gone through several different creams from Eucerin to Aquaphor to Triple Antibiotic ointment to Ellidel and the steriod ointment(after prolonged use can cause cancer)for our 8 yr. old. We too felt uncomfortable putting this on our sons arm but really had no alternative, until NOW:)

I started taking an All Natural/ Organic Vitamins and Minerals for a health condition (autoimmune disease). I contacted the manufacturer and firgured out I can use it topically on my sons excema. Now just to paint the pictures my son was going through another outbreak where he was very dry in a spot that was as big as the palm of my hand. He of course scratched at it like crazy leaving his skin in pretty bad shape.

In the morning before school I tried putting the minerals on his excema. I dabbed it on and fanned it dry. I checked on it after dinner that same day just to see how his arm was doing. My face was in amazement!! He went from earlier that day mind you, red, scratched up, very irritated looking. To light pink!! The open scratches looked like they were differently on a path of healing!!!

It has been a few weeks now and I just use the minerals about once a day. No more steriod cream, Ellidel etc...

The name of the Vitamins and Minerals that we use are "Vital Earth Super Multi and Fulvic Minerals". I was referred by a friend. Of course to ease your mind I would encourage consulting with your pediatrician. I love it b/c it is All organic and kid friendly:) The website I ordered from is: vitalearth.org

FYI: Not sure where you live but Krieger's Health food store in Cuyahoga Falls will be carrying Vital Earth starting next week!!! Yeah! That means you won't have to pay for shipping:)

Best of luck! I look forward to hearing of your success!!

A liitle about me:

SAHM with 4 awesome, creative kids!! 10 yrs. old, 8 yrs. old, 6 yrs. old, and 3 yrs. old.

I had my 18 month old tested. It was not to painful. They will give you a cream that numbs their back. The worst part for my daughter was when they wrote on her back to mark what was injected. We found out that she alergic to mold and life became better after she was put on meds. She finally slept thru the night.

Good luck

Testing for allergies is good but you should really test him for intolerances to food. Intolerances can't be tested on the skin. They are reactions in the intestines and are immunological. My daughter and oldest son have an intolerance to Milk and Gluten. My same daughter had an allergy to milk but the allergy is now gone as she is 18 months. The intolerance remains. To test intolerances you just cut out the suspected cause. Usually milk, gluten, eggs or fructose (those are the biggest). But only cut them out one at a time. If the symptoms clear up (in your case and mine excema) then you know the cause ad you don't have to poke his skin. Milk is highly linked to excema. Just because you don't have any allergies doesn't mean that you don't have any intolerances. I was not diagnosed with gluten intolerance till I was an adult and married. People who get sick a lot, ear infections, respiratory infection or have asthma can have a food intolerance. Even though the reaction is in the intestines not all people have bowel issues. Some do some don't. IBS is usually some kind of intolerance. Lactose intolerance is different from milk or dairy intolerance. Lactose is just the milk sugar. Dairy is usually the milk protein. Lactose is not the place to start. Try cutting out dairy. Odds are it's the dairy.