Hayfever - allergy testing?

[louisea]

Do GPs in the UK ever refer patients for allergy testing to find out which triggers are causing hayfever?

DTs have a cashew nut allergy so are already under the care of a paediatrician. I was wondering whether it is worth a GP visit to ask for a referal as it would be useful to know if there is a specific trigger that is causing their hay fever.

I don't think they routinely test just for specific pollens for hay fever. If they do tests for other allergies like other nuts, might be worth asking if they will do pollen tests at the same time. There are certain pollens released at certain times of the year which could give you a clue as to which you react too. I for example am allergic to grass pollen and my hay fever only started three weeks ago as tree pollen doesn't effect me. If your hay fever starts April/May time chances are you would be allergic to tree pollen.

It usually starts around June time though seems to get a bit earlier each year. Poor kids are really suffering at the moment. They have been managing with antihistamines and eye drops but today they had sports day. Someone thought it was a smart idea to mow the grass before hand. So they spent all afternoon outside, in the heat near freshly mown grass.

This evening they are both struggling to breath and have super red eyes. They have a bunch of exams tomorrow and Friday. Neither wants to go to shcool tomorrow but there's no guarantee that they'll feel any better on Friday or even after the weekend.