Young children with allergies generally have food triggers, which often shift to inhaled triggers
(such as pollen or animal dander) as children grow. Testing now will help identify potential
allergic triggers. Down the road, retesting can help determine if triggers have changed.
In addition to runny noses and sneezing, many common lingering symptoms may be caused by allergies.
But symptoms alone can’t tell you if you have allergies and what you’re allergic to.
Individuals need to be tested to determine specific allergic triggers.
With allergy symptoms, timing is important. Information such as when they occur (eg, spring, fall, all year),
how long they’ve been occurring, and how often they occur can offer clues to what allergens might be triggering symptoms.
Of course, the only way to know for sure is to have an allergy test.
Allergens are everywhere—both indoors and outdoors. Plus they occur during any season and at any time of day.
Allergy testing is the only way you and your doctor can know for sure which allergic triggers are causing the symptoms.
Allergies to cats and dogs are very common. However, it’s hard to know if a
pet is causing symptoms—and if so, which species (cat or dog). While your
family might not have a cat or dog, symptoms could be due to a furry pet in another home.
Or it may be that the allergy is to a friend’s cat, and not your dog, as you might have assumed.
Testing for allergic triggers will tell you for sure if cats or dogs are to blame—no matter
where they are encountered.