The allergist employs allergy tests to determine the cause of allergy or to rule out suspected causes.
It should be said, however, that the results of the test by themselves are not the final diagnosis. For example, if a patient comes with an allergy that persists all the year and allergy tests reveal an allergic reaction to olive tree pollen, the wrong conclusion will be that the aforementioned allergic reaction is the result of olive tree pollen allergy. However, it is known that olive tree blossoms only in the spring. As a result of this, the aforementioned allergy which happens in every season cannot be attributed to olive tree pollen. The right conclusion is that the olive tree pollen is not the cause of the aforementioned allergy.
On the other hand, allergy tests are very important for the investigation of the allergy cause, and, coupled with the proper professional judgment, are an excellent diagnostic tool.
There are different types of allergy tests which are appropriate for different situations:
- Prick Test for inhaled allergens, food allergens.
- Patch Test.
- RAST test (today it is mostly performed using the ELISA method): measures specific antibodies to allergens.
- Penicillins allergy tests.
- Drug and food allergy challenge.
- Spirometry - Pulmonary Function Tests.
- Blood Tests.