Skin prick allergy test

[RedRobyn2021]

Just wanted to know what to expect, does anyone know if the "prick" hurts? Or is it so minor it can go by unnoticed?

I'm taking 17mo next week and feeling a bit anxious, we have been waiting for a year for this

Hi,
my Dd3 has a food allergy which was obvious at 6 months. She has yearly skin prick tests so has had 3 now.

in short yes the prick hurts they do break the skin And your holding their arm out stretch so they do see what’s happening. its over really quickly and I guess all children are different but my dd cries at each one and needs distraction and cuddles after. It’s really quick and they are so good at hiding the needle and they keep chatting to the little to try and distract them. Hope it goes well.

@Thatmakestwo thank you

Not much to add except there will be more than 1 prick. Even if they are testing for just 1 thing they will do a positive and negative control, so expect some tears.

Might be good to take some antihistamine cream in case you do get a reaction as the wheels can be itchy. They may so want to do bloods (finger prick, they just need a drop) to co firm any reactions they get.

We always went with a bag of (in our case dairy free) chocolate buttons for being brave.

Yes, I'm afraid it does hurt a bit. My DS had to have regular skinprick tests for many years and always found it unpleasant. He would usually have 20-30 things tested at once though so if your little one isn't having many it might not be an issue. We found some of the nurses were better at it than others and to be honest I preferred the ones who were a bit brusque maybe but just got on with it and got it over and done with quickly.
Distraction is your friend. Take a phone/ipad/new book or small toy or whatever to distract during the actual pricking, and in the gap between the testing and them being read. I used to find that bit worse, as DS would often have quite florid reactions and get very itchy, but of course you can't give anything until the reactions have been measured and you have to somehow stop them scratching for quite a while. I used a combination of distraction and bribery!
I also always used to take my own antihistamine so I could give a dose literally as soon as they'd finished measuring. The nurses always used to say "Oh no need to do that, we could have given him some of ours" but on the one occasion when I didn't take my own we waited ages as obviously they're busy, they have to get it prescribed and checked etc so it takes time. And if you've got an upset toddler you want to get on with things as quickly as possible.
Make sure you dress your little one in comfortable clothing that isn't scratchy. I always used to put DS in a short sleeved t shirt for easy access but also have something soft and long sleeved with me for afterwards as sometimes when he was very little, covering the site up would help distract him and stop him scratching until the antihistamine kicked in.
Sorry, I'm probably making it sound awful and you may find it's a complete non event - I certainly remember there being other children around who seemed totally unbothered - but I remember being completely unprepared for my DS's first lot of tests and i think it's better to be forewarned.
Hope everything goes smoothly and you get the answers you need from the tests.

DD was around 1/1.5 when she had hers. She has 17, she jumped for the first couple but once she had peppa pig and my playing with her hair she calmed down. Thankfully all were negative but she'd had a immediate reaction to a unknown source previously so it had to be done. If there are any positive though they can be quite itchy. At our local hospital they have a play team so they come and help try and distract little one with tablets with films or games on. I took a little chocolate bar for her for being so brave

My 7 month old didn't notice, but definitely as they get older they don't like it.
I don't think that it's as painful as someone sticking a pin in your arm as they are only puncturing the top layers of skin, but your child won't like it being done, expect crying. Distraction is definitely the name of the game but the nurses will be really used to talking you both through it.

Also note its not just the skin prick itself, it's the itchy feeling afterwards. I don't know how many pricks your child will have but imagine having an arm of mosquito bites happen all at once, its very uncomfortable for the child as they can't scratch them for 15 mins or so while they wait to measure them.

After the skin prick test is done, if they don't need a blood test too sometimes they will say you can give them some antihistamine to help the itchiness, so if it's really bad ask the nurse about that.

Hope it all goes well for you both.

Also, if you are wanting them to be tested for a fruit or something unusual take along the actual food with you, as they don't always have everything available.
If its the usual suspects like nuts, egg, dairy etc don't worry about it, they will definitely have them in stock.