My 1-Year-old Has to Get an Allergy Scratch Test

I just wanted to let you know that I had allergy testing as a child. I was probably between 7 and 8 years old. I dont think its that big of an issue for a child who is a little older. It was not a tramatic experience. If you choose to do it when your child is older, dont worry.

Hi S.:

I have great news for you and your 1 year old. You can have him cured of his allergy so that he will be able to eat eggs. You may want to visit NAET.com, order and read the book "Say Good-Bye to Children's Allergies." This will help you understand how the body perceives allergens and what you can do to help your child. There are now over 9000 naet certified doctors world-wide.

You can find an NAET certified doctor through the website. I (and 2 of my grand children) go to Dr. David Karaba in Fullerton and absolutely love him. His phone number is ###-###-####.

One of the wonderful things about NAET is that for children or the infirm, they can be treated through a surrogate, i.e., you. Here is the description paragraph from the book information.

"Say Good-bye to Children’s Allergies
By - Devi S. Nambudripad, M.D., D.C., L.Ac., R.N., Ph.D.

In Say Good-bye to Children’s Allergies, Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad, the developer of NAET®, will help you understand your child’s illness and will assist you in finding the right help to achieve better health for your child. This book will show you how certain commonly used products in your foods and environment can cause health problems in your child; how you can test your child in your privacy of your own home using the Nambudripad’s Testing Techniques described in the book. This book will educate you how your child’s health problems can relate to allergy, a traditionally under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed condition; and, how allergies can manifest into myriad symptoms that might seem unrelated. The author also provides remedies for mild conditions of common childhood ailments arising from allergies and how to find help in assisting your child find the right help for serious problems such as, asthma, hay-fever, common colds, sinus problems, milk allergy, peanut allergy, sugar allergy, hives, gastritis, vomiting, colic for newborns, ear infections, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, bronchitis, drug reactions, and many other conditions. Dr. Nambudripad explains how allergies are often the underlying causes to pediatric problems and how NAET® testing procedures and NAET® treatments can offer relief from these allergies. The book is supported by NAET® practitioners’ testimonials and patients’ success stories."

My pediatrician said they don't do scratch tests that young because of the harmful reactions to such a small body should they have lots of allergies. My son had a blood draw that tested for everything you are having and more. Perhaps you should opt for that. He had just turned 3 and sat very still and had no problems with the needle.

My daughter had the test right before she turned 2. As one of the other posters already said, it was the longest 20 mins of our lives. I would suggest taking someone with you who can help you. My husband and I both went and it was great for moral support since I was holding back tears the entire time. I had to keep reminding myself that we were doing this not to inflict pain on her, but to help solve this mystery. The results were very eye opening and worth it in the end. Make sure you take any type of comfort item your kiddo loves. For my daughter it was her circle blanket. They also let us bring in our portable DVD player and we had just purchased The Little Mermaid movie. Though she didnt watch it too much, it was a great distraction tool at times. Another previous poster said that it only hurt when they start the test and prick him/her. For our little one, it continued to hurt the entire time in the areas she was allergic to. The sting and itch did not go away till they wiped it off and gave her some soothing creme. Each child will react differently depending on what they are allergic to.

With all of that said. Keep your head up and remember that you are doing this for his/her health and that the temporary pain is worth the long term information you will receive from the test.

J. :)

My four and six year old just had it done. My 9 mos old is going in three weeks. They lay them on their stomach and they write the numbers in marker of the allergens. Then they put a drop next to each number. After that, they "scratch" the drops with something that looks like a razor but is not. There is no blood that I saw. The worst part is that if your child is allergic to things, it will be extremely itchy. My daughter cried, it itched so much and they have to lay still on their stomachs. I brought a portable DVD player and they watched it during the 15 minutes they had to lay still. The doctor comes in, reads the control and then the rest of the allergens and then they will wipe the stuff off their back if it's still itching. Good Luck. It isn't fun but it's nice to know if there's a problem or not.

Likewise- my allergist said no go on the scratch test- it would not be accurate because they are so tiny and that it would be too overwhelming for our daughter-- we did draw blood- only disadvantage is that they cannot test for a wide, wide array of causes- just the ones specifically requested- and the more you request- the more blood they take. We were lucky - she was only stuck once- she sat in my lap and I held her arm under the table-- she cried, I cried- my husband said it was painful to watch- but it was over fairly quickly-- took about 3 weeks for the results. We have found that she has a mild reaction to eggs-- with that my allergist suggested avoiding eggs, citrus and all nuts- although we did not test for the last two. I plan to check out the website as mentioned in the other response- so thanks to all and best of luck to you.

Hi S.-
If it is the test where they do it on your child's back, yes, my son had it at 2 1/2. Again, if it is the same test, I wish I could give you a candy coated response, but truthfully it is a rough go. The one thing that would have helped us is having a nurse who could have tried to make it a little easier on my son. She didn't prepare us at all- she just began the test without any soothing or doing any of those tricks they always seem to have to at least TRY to make things easier on kids when they have to go through hard stuff. So, just make sure she tells you everything she is going to do and what it might feel like for your child. My son screamed in such a way that I had to fight back crying too. To make matters harder, you cannot touch the area they have pricked for 20 min. or it ruins the test, ie. I couldn't hug him to soothe him. The up side is two fold: it is a relatively quick test ( I think they did three different sections on his back where they quickly prick the skin). There is the 20 min wait, but past the initial pain, it subsides. Then, for us, the results revolutionized our household and health for my son when we discovered some things he was allergic to. Being aware of those things and making the appropriate changes literally revolutionized the health of my son. So it is completely worth it if that is the stage you are at, but it might be the longest 20 min. of your life with your son.

I wish I could have given a cheerier answer!

K.

Dear S. M,
Yes my son had it done before 1 and after 1. They will probably use your childs back. It will give them a better control test since your child is so young. Having 1 year old stick their arms out is a joke. You just have a long wait time. Don't worry. M. Petersen

My daughter had one when she was two! Only the pocked her with plastic needles. It did not hurt her at all. The bad part was watching all the parts the put stuff on get itchy and swollen. She only cryed a little. It was not as bad as I thought it would be!

My son had an allergic reaction to peanut butter when he was 1 1/2 years old. We had a scratch test done for peanuts to try to determine if he is indeed allergic to them. They will take a needle type object and dip it in the suspected allergen and then make a few scratches on your child's back. They will do this for each of the allergens they are testing. They will also do a "control" scratch test, as a means of basing the other tests on. You'll be sent out into the waiting area for a certain period of time (to allow time for a reaction, if any). Then the doctor will call you back in the office to discuss the findings. My son was very frightened of the needles and really cried when they did the actual scratch tests. I'm sure there was some measure of pain, but not too much. If anything, I think he was more scared of strangers holding him and touching him. After all that, the test was inconclusive because my son had a reaction to the control scratch test as well. Usually they don't have a reaction to the control. The doctor determined that my son has very sensitive skin and that's probably why he had a reaction to the control. We will probably bring him back again, probably right before he starts kindergarten, to have the scratch tests done again. Hopefully they will be able to give me some diffinitive answers this time. Good luck to you and hopefully they will be able to give you answers right then!

We just had scratch tests done on our 3 year old about a month ago. My son did really well. The Dr. asked a lot of questions and then the nurse came in, drew with a pen, a grid on both arms (like an extra long tic-tac-toe). She numbered each box on the grids. Then she just took a fresh poker and dipped it in the sollutions of alergens and poked his skin. One for each box. The poker did not seem very sharp. I expeced it to be like the thing they use to prick your finger when they take a little sample of blood to test cholesteral. But it wasn't. It just barely scratched the surface of the skin. My son was very brave and we didn't make a big deal of it. Then he got two sugarfree lollipops at the end. He was very happy. And he wasn't allergic to anything.