Asthma
Asthma is a chronic condition that affects around 24 million people in the united states. Asthma can either be allergic or non-allergic. Depending on your asthma type, you might respond to different modalities of treatments including medications, immunotherapy and biologics.
If you are experiencing any shortness of breath, wheezing, trouble breathing, coughing, chest tightness, exercise intolerance and lingering colds you should consider getting evaluated for asthma.
We would like our patients to know that despite having the diagnosis of asthma, they should be able to tolerate exercise and live a normal life with the least symptoms possible if the asthma is appropriately controlled.
Contact Dermatitis
If you are experiencing persistent itchy rash on certain areas of the skin, you might have contact dermatitis. This rash can be associated with blistering. Contact dermatitis can be caused by many chemicals, metals, latex, plants and products that you might be using daily. Contact dermatitis is diagnosed with patch testing that is placed on the back.
Eczema
Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that causes the skin to become inflamed and irritated, making it extremely itchy. If you or your child have eczema, please contact us for management, discussion of potential triggers and evaluation for prevention of peanut allergies in babies with eczema per the recent guidelines.
A chronic (long-lasting) disease that causes the skin to become inflamed and irritated, making it extremely itchy. Please contact an allergy specialist on ways to optimally control eczema and itching and improve quality of life.
Food allergies
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Food allergies affect around 4-6% of children and 4% of adults.
Food allergies or intolerances can develop towards things that you have eaten all your life.
If you suspect any food allergies, you can schedule an appointment with us to get tested. Please check out the medications that you need to stop prior to skin testing in the patient corner.
The most common food allergens that account for 80% of food allergies are: Milk, egg, wheat, soy, fish, shellfish, peanuts and tree nuts. Sesame allergy have been evolving and been seen more commonly as well.
Symptoms of a food reaction can range from hives, itching, difficulty in breathing, wheezing, cough, diarrhea, vomiting, drop in blood pressure, weak pulse and shock leading to anaphylaxis.
Keep in mind that these symptoms occur from minutes up to 4 hours after ingestion.
Our clinic will help you identify food allergies, intolerances and elimination of suspicious triggers with food challenges and testing to help broaden our patient’s diet as much as possible when it is safe to do so.
Once you have identified food allergies, we can help find out when the patient might have outgrown the allergy and the possibility of a food challenge.
Does your child have eczema? Check out the LEAP (Learing Early About Peanuts) study and recent recommendations for early introduction of peanut to prevent peanut allergies.
If you have any concerns about your child developing peanut allergies or peanut introduction, we can certainly help.
Hives
Hives can be very disturbing and can occur form known or unknown exposures. If you are experiencing itchy rash that is not improving, please contact our clinic for evaluation and discussion of the way to manage your hives.
Insect Sting Reaction
Allergic reactions to insect stings can occur from honeybees, hornets, wasps, yellow jackets and fire ants. Those reactions are usually due to the venom injected in the skin.
Symptoms of a reaction include: Swelling, itching, hives, difficulty in breathing, drop in blood pressure, loss of consciousness. If you have experienced any of these symptoms we can provide testing (skin and blood) to diagnosed an insect sting reaction. In the case of a positive test, we do provide allergy injections as a treatment for insect sting allergy.
Latex Allergy
If you develop any symptoms around latex containing products including hives, itching, swelling, difficulty in breathing or anaphylaxis then you need to be evaluated for latex allergy. Patients might also experience rash, redness and blistering after touching latex which is caused by a different type of a reaction called contact dermatitis. Testing for latex allergy is helpful in diagnosing latex allergy.
Seasonal Allergies
Seasonal allergies are less common during the winter, but it’s possible to experience allergic rhinitis year-round. Different plants emit their respective pollens at different times of year. Depending on your allergy triggers and where you live, you may experience hay fever in more than one season. You may also react to indoor allergens, such as mold or pet dander.
This Affects 40-60 million Americans. Your symptoms can range from nose stuffiness, sneezing, itchy throat along with frequent sinus infections caused by untreated allergic rhinitis. We provide skin testing and blood testing to the most common environmental indoor and outdoor allergens along with many therapeutic interventions that range from avoidance measures, medications and allergy injections. Our goal is to improve quality of life using the least medications possible.
Please check out the list of medications that needs to be stopped prior to skin
Symptoms of seasonal allergies
Symptoms of seasonal allergies range from mild to severe. The most common include:
- sneezing
- runny or stuffy nose
- watery and itchy eyes
- itchy sinuses, throat, or ear canals
- ear congestion
- postnasal drainage
Less common symptoms include:
- headache
- shortness of breath
- wheezing
- coughing
Causes of seasonal allergies
Hay fever happens when your immune system identifies an airborne substance that’s usually harmless as dangerous. It responds to that substance, or allergen, by releasing histamines and other chemicals into your bloodstream. Those chemicals produce the symptoms of an allergic reaction.
Penicillin Allergy
Are you Penicillin allergic? Over 10% of the population are labeled as Penicillin allergic but over 90% of people are not truly allergic. Over 90% of patient lose their Penicillin allergy within 10 years. Please contact us for more information regarding penicillin testing. It’s very important to de-label Penicillin allergy when possible in order to avoid unnecessary use of broad spectrum antibiotics that can develop resistance to microbes. For more information please click here:
If you are scheduled for a Penicillin skin test, please check out the list of medications to avoid prior to testing.
Pet Allergy
Exposure to pets can trigger many symptoms such as hives, runny nose, congestion, sneezing, itching, wheezing, difficulty in breathing. Most common pets involved in allergic reactions are cats and dogs. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you might have a pet allergy. Treatment includes avoidance, medications and certainly allergy injection if avoidance is not feasible. Allergy testing can help with diagnosis of pet allergy.
