5 Signs Your Child May Have Seasonal Allergies — and What to Expect from Testing

Seasonal allergies don’t give a break to anyone, hitting kids and seniors as often as adults. If you suspect your child has seasonal allergies, it’s important to follow up with a doctor so your little one doesn’t suffer needlessly.

At Primary Care Walk-In Medical Clinic, our providers, Dr. Pankaj Chopra and Dr. Neha Maheshwari, provide allergy testing services to our patients at our four Arizona locations: Gilbert, Fountain Hills, Mesa, and Scottsdale. If you suspect your child has developed seasonal allergies, here’s why you should bring them in to get tested.

What is an allergy?

Allergies occur due to a faulty immune system. When the immune system encounters a pathogen, it mounts a response, releasing histamines and protective proteins called antibodies into the bloodstream to kill the pathogen so you can recover.

With an allergic reaction, though, the immune system mistakenly marks an allergen (the substance that causes the reaction) as dangerous, even though it’s completely innocuous. Common allergies include pet dander, bee venom, dust mites, and mold.

Allergic reactions can vary from a minor irritation to a life-threatening emergency called anaphylaxis. While allergies are incurable, treatments exist that relieve your allergy symptoms.

5 signs your child may have seasonal allergies

In the case of seasonal allergies, the allergen is usually some form of pollen, the substance released from growing plants to reproduce. While there’s nothing inherently harmful about pollen, your immune system nevertheless mounts an attack, producing the following symptoms:

1. Sneezing
2. Runny nose
3. Facial swelling
4. Rashes or hives
5. Red, irritated, watery eyes

If your child is experiencing any or all of these, it’s time to bring them into Primary Care Walk-In Medical Clinic for testing.

Allergy testing

Allergy testing is a way to determine what substance is causing your child to develop an allergic response. We can test in two ways:

1. Skin test

In the most common form, the doctor marks a grid on your child’s back and uses a tiny needle (one per square) to prick or scratch the skin, exposing it to small amounts of the proteins in the potential allergens.

The results are easy to determine. If your child’s allergic to the substance, they’ll develop a raised bump called a hive at the test area. If there’s no bump, that allergen isn’t responsible for the allergic reaction.

2. Blood test

This test measures the level of immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies the blood makes to destroy a potential allergen. The test is called specific IgE (sIgE) blood testing, a radioallergosorbent test (RAST), or ImmunoCAP testing. The blood sample the doctor draws is sent to a laboratory to determine if your child is sensitive to the suspected allergen.

Treating seasonal allergies

Treatment involves avoiding known immune system triggers, taking antihistamine medications, and/or immunotherapy. Immunotherapy can help treat severe allergies and allergies that don't get better with other treatments.

The treatment involves getting a series of shots of purified allergen extracts, usually given over a few years. These gradually increasing doses of extracts train the immune system not to overreact to the suspected allergen.

Another form of immunotherapy is a dissolvable sublingual tablet often used to treat common pollen allergies.

If your child is showing signs of seasonal allergies, Primary Care Walk-In Medical Clinic can help with diagnosis and treatment. You can walk in, call us at any of our locations, or book an appointment online.