Make Sure of Your Health with Skin Test
Skin prick testing is a test performed with commercially available respiratory and food allergens, latex, or (more rarely) medications. It is used in the diagnosis of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, contact urticaria and food and drug allergies.

Diagnosis should be supported by history and a thorough examination followed by tests. Today, many allergens have been prepared in standardized form to be applied in skin tests. The easiest, cheapest and most reliable test that can be performed with these test materials is the skin prick test. The most important advantages of the test are its high sensitivity and specificity and its easy reproducibility. Patients should stop their treatments, such as antihistamines, antidepressants, and flu medications, if they are taking them, at least 1 week to 10 days in advance. Positive and negative controls must be applied during the test.

The allergen is applied to the patients’ inner forearm (flexural) face or back. In screening panels containing a small number of allergens (8-12), single cola; In general panels containing many allergens, approximately equal numbers of allergens are applied to both arms.

Evaluation is made at the 15th minute.