If your child is experiencing flu-like symptoms, rashes, or swelling around the lips, tongue, and face, they may be experiencing a reaction to the food you’re feeding them. The first order of business is to have a food allergy test performed to find out correctly which foods are triggering the symptoms.
Food allergies afflict one out every thirteen children. Peanuts and tree nuts, cow’s milk, eggs, seafood, wheat, and soy are the most common foods that trigger an allergic reaction in children.
Symptoms of a Food Allergy
The symptoms of a food allergy are sometimes hard to spot. They could be as subtle as congestion, runny nose, cough, or sneezing. If you notice your child experiencing these symptoms only after eating, it will be worth it to have a food allergy test performed if only to rule out allergies as the cause.
But some symptoms are alarming and obvious. Red and itchy bumps on the skin, a red rash, wheezing, and shortness of breath are all food allergy symptoms. Any type of swelling around the lips, tongue, and face are also symptoms that require emergency treatments followed by an allergy test.
Some of the symptoms are confined to the gastrointestinal tract. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach pain after eating are alarm bells that signal the presence of a food allergy.
All of these symptoms won’t go away over time if your child has a food allergy, so they never should be ignored.
Three Types of Food Allergy Tests
There are three versions of tests to determine whether or not your child has a food allergy. The Open Blind test is performed when you and your doctor suspect your child is allergic to a certain specific food.
The Single Blind test is performed when neither you or your doctor is sure what type of food is triggering allergic symptoms in your child. Your child will be tested on the most common types of food they eat at home and school.
The Double-Blind test is most often performed when your child is afraid of consuming certain types of food, or your doctor wants to eliminate any chance of bias to certain foods during testing. This test takes two days to perform accurately. It also requires the participation of a food preparer to prepare both the suspected food samples and the fake food samples that resemble the real samples in taste, appearance, and texture.
Living with a Food Allergy
Once the food allergy test has been performed and the food that has been causing the allergic reactions in your child has been identified, you must eliminate that food from your child’s diet.
Your doctor may recommend some alternative foods that provide the same nutrients as the reaction-causing food. But there is no cure to a food allergy.
There has been some success in gradually reintroducing patients to a food over a long period of time and building up their resistance to it. But not everyone responds to this allergy treatment, and it has to take place under a doctor’s guidance.
If you suspect your child has a food allergy, make an appointment at the Samitivej Hospital Allergy Center to have your child tested for food allergies.
