Your health care provider may recommend allergy skin tests for you, especially if you have found it difficult to pinpoint the allergens to which you are sensitive. An allergist, a physician who specializes in treating allergies, can perform these relatively simple tests.

There are two ways to perform these tests. In one method, the allergist makes a small scratched on your skin, either on your arm or back. On this scratch, he or she will then put a drop of liquid containing an allergen. Often you are tested with several common allergens that you are likely to be exposed to in the home or in your region of the country. Each allergen comes in its own liquid and requires a separate scratch. After a few minutes you may notice a red, itchy bump (hive) at the scratch site on which the allergen was placed. This reaction suggests that you are allergic to that particular allergen. In the second method, the allergist may simply give you an injection of the allergen and watch for a reaction at the injection site. Each allergen, again, requires a separate injection.

With the results of these skin tests you can asthma-proof your home and take steps to avoid these allergens. Combined with your medication and the rest of your asthma management plan, you’ll find that you may be able to decrease the number of asthma attacks. In some instances, your doctor may recommend immunotherapy. You may know immunotherapy by its more common name, allergy shots. In the guidelines issued by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in 1997, the expert panel recommended that physicians should consider immunotherapy for people whose asthma symptoms are poorly controlled by medications and are caused by allergens that are impossible to avoid or that occur for a major portion of the year.


Immunotherapy decreases your response to the particular allergens that were identified by your allergy skin tests. You receive injections containing tiny amounts of the allergens, typically a few times a month for a three-to-five-year period. With each injection, the percentage of the allergen is increased. Over time, the body’s reaction to that allergen lessens.

Immunotherapy is not as widely used as it once was. In many studies, immunotherapy has proven to have little or no effect on certain asthmas, namely allelic asthma. Furthermore, immunotherapy may cause a serious reaction, especially bronchoconstriction, more frequently among people with asthma (from 5 to 35 percent) compared with people who have allergic rhinitis. However, these reactions are rare.

Allergy shots may also cause a severe, life-threatening allergic response called anaphylactic shock. Although anaphylactic shock is also rare, you should get your allergy shots in the doctor’s office where the staff is prepared to deal with anaphylactic shock. For all of these reasons, be sure to discuss its risks and benefits with your doctor if you are considering immunotherapy.

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