Advice for a three year old’s first skin prick test

[Cdoc]

Hi All, just as the title says really!

My 3 year old has his first skin prick test tomorrow. We know some of the things he’s allergic to (based on blood test results as well as physical symptoms), but previously have just been given an annual blood test and left to it. Now it’s confirmed he has two nut allergies, we’re being sent for skin prick testing to confirm whether any other nuts or legumes.

He hates medical settings, so looking for any advice on getting through tomorrow! I have chocolate and the iPad ready.
Is it also realistic to send him to nursery on Tuesday?

Thanks in advance

It’s not fun I have to say. My dd was four when she had her first one. Just keep the distractions coming. I distinctly remember reading puss in boots with all of the voices like a mad woman. I don’t think he will be able to eat until the reactions are measured.

There will be things to do in the waiting room assuming it’s a children’s department. I always take a pencil sharpener to hospital waiting rooms, that’s a distraction for me!

Ah thank you, I did think it would be pretty awful all round. Do you remember how long it took roughly? We’ve been told nothing except to stop antihistamines for the last 7 days.

Noted on the eating too! Will at least have it in the bag in the hope I can promise him it after as a treat. Yes it is in the children’s centre of the hospital (also the place he’s had blood tests in the past so not great memories of being there for him :( )

It doesn’t take long once you start. You go in, they put the allergen on (DD’s was on her arm) then they have to agitate it, that’s the bad bit. Then you wait about fifteen minutes to see if there has been a reaction. Then they measure the bumps of there are any and tell you what the results are.

It’s unpleasant because the actual pricking part has to be done for every allergen. It’s not really awful or anything but it does hurt them. Probably no more than falling over would but it’s the over and over part that’s not the best.

if you are taking a chocolate based reward then make sure it’s completely allergen free! For a start you can’t take allergy risk foods into a department where people have allergies but also imagine if you are told he’s reacted to something then he can’t have whatever it is you brought! 😵

DC has been having blood tests and skin pricks, as well as food challenges from age 1.
DC did really well with all of them until age 5/6 where she became more aware of what was happening.
Distraction and reminders of how quick it is helped

skin prick:
Get the food or allergen solution ready
put a ‘bubble’ of solution onto the fore arm (or a smudge of the food ) as well as positive and negative solutions for control elements of the test
‘Pop’ the bubble /food (with a sharp tool - it looks a bit like a flat piece of metal with a sharp needle tip)
Wait 15-20 mins for any reactions
Draw around any reaction and take a tracing using medical tape (doesn’t hurt)
done

Ours usually takes max 1 hour if it’s just skin prick but if we need bloods too then up to 2 hours potentially
if they’re busy it’s sometimes been 2-3 hrs!!
food challenge in hospital can take ages

DD says it doesn’t hurt her that much like a quick sharp poke but she doesn’t like it now for the worry element now she’s aware of what’s happening
1-4 years she was absolutely fine though with everything bloods etc no drama
this year a bit more worry

Thank you both, really appreciate the time taken to respond.

Great point on not taking an allergen into a clinical environment! That didn’t even cross my mind 🤦🏻‍♀️he’s definitely not allergic to it, but others could be so not worth the risk.
I am really hoping they test all other tree nuts given he’s confirmed as cashew nut, so fingers crossed they do (but hoping it’s negative).

Blood tests for us have been a disaster and in December they had to ask for my permission to continue because he was so distressed. Hoping it’s not quite that bad but bracing myself.

Did your children have any long lasting reactions, or were they relatively back to normal within a few hours?

It’s not nearly as bad as blood tests! My daughter had her first reaction to cashews and she was tested for about 6 different nuts I think after referral to the allergy clinic. Per the skin prick tests she is allergic to pistachios which they said is often the case where allergic to cashews. She is also allergic to peanuts although not quite as badly as cashews which we have EpiPens for.

The reaction bumps will most likely be a bit itchy until the next day. Other than that my daughter has always been fine after leaving the hospital.

Thank you so much that’s a relief to know! I’m not sure the blood tests could’ve been any worse 🤦🏻‍♀️

Also helpful to know on the cashew/ pistachio, thank you. He never actually ate cashews himself, when he was a bit younger I ate half a bag and then he reacted through breastmilk.
Peanut he was happily eating until he was one, he was blood tested for pea protein due to skin reactions, which were positive, but give the legume link they tested his blood for peanuts too and he came back positive. So we were advised to cut them out, but I’m really hoping he ends up negative to that! He also tested blood positive for soya but eats that with no issues, so I know false positives can happen.

Hoping we are given epi pens if they are needed, as so far we’ve just been fobbed off a bit with advice to take antihistamines, but I can’t help but think if he reacted to cashews through breastmilk then the reaction if he ingested them himself might be stronger.

Thanks again for sharing your experience, really helpful. I have a habit of really building these things up, so hoping it’s not as bad as I am thinking!

My daughter is also allergic to cashew, pistachio and peanuts (plus sesame) so sounds like that’s a common link.
We didn’t find the testing too bad (she’s 16 now so had it done 4 or 5 times now).
I would recommend taking a bottle of anti-histamine with you so you can give him a dose of that as soon as all the tests are completed -my daughter was more distressed by being horribly itchy afterwards rather than any pain so it’s good to tackle that as soon as you can.
We had also been fobbed off with respect to getting EpiPens but got prescribed them as soon as she’d had the skin-prick tests. You can also get them to supply a dummy EpiPen which is really useful for practicing and demonstrating the injection technique to anyone else who might be looking after your son (and him once he’s old enough).
Good luck!