We went through our first round of allergy patch testing this month. Before we scheduled the appointments I looked for information about it in regards to children and why it's done. I couldn't find very much at all and was quite frustrated. I was also frustrated because the staff at the office, or at least the person I spoke with was not able to answer my questions without playing relay to someone else. She shouldn't have been on the phone telling us what to do if she couldn't answer my questions. For example, we were told to bring jars of babyfood for them to put on my son's back. The meat products are not pure, they have corn startch. My son has tested allergic to corn previously, so I thought it would be wrong to use it because it would give false positive results. Question after question and we finally got it all sorted out. (By the way, they ended up asking the doctor and he said that the corn starch shouldn't pose a problem "because it's only the starch". I wonder why then I'm avoiding it in all his foods then??) Anyway....
In my research for information I found a lot of references to patch testing for contact dermatitis and the main things it tested for was metals and chemicals that irritate peoples skin over time. I was totally confused how this related to eosinophilic esophagitis. We were going to test for foods only, it turns out, despite the paperwork they mailed me. I did finally find ONE great letter from Dr. Jonathan Spergel from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on the APFED website ( http://www.apfed.org/faqs.htm Question #4) that explained in much greater detail about why we do patch testing and what it indicates in EE. Basically, scratch testing and patch testing examine different "systems". Scratch testing shows immediate reactions to foods, patch testing shows delayed reactions to foods. People who have delayed reactions to foods have a difficult time pinpointing the culprit foods. This test should help with that.
We had just done scratch testing in January and my son had tested negative for several things that he had tested positive to in the past. We were very excited that we might be able to return some foods to his diet. With the patch testing though, he still tested positive to most everything and a couple new things! And if you test positive on either test, that food is recommended to be removed from the diet. So back to square one. But I do believe in my heart that his body must be improving since he got over his wheat allergy according to both tests, and he is not testing "as positive" as in the past to other things, if there is such a thing. Allergy testing is so not cut and dry.
Our experience with the patch testing in general was very good. It only took about 15 min. to get all the little cups of food taped onto my son's back. He thought it was quite hysterical that he was wearing baby food on his back! He just turned four so they had a little difficulty finding room for five strips of food cups, but it all worked out. He wore those test strips for 48 hours. He didn't complain about any discomfort or itching or anything. I think he was most annoyed that I wouldn't let him play too hard and get sweaty! After 48 hours, the office removed the test strips and took the initial reading. It didn't look too bad at the time. I was able to see two spots that looked positive. More grew over the 24 hour period until the next reading. My son still had no complaints of itching or anything which was good. At the final reading though, he was covered in spots. He tested positive for quite a few things. It's now over two weeks later and he still has a spot where he tested positive for egg (his most serious allergy).
I hope this helps other parents who are wondering what to expect when taking their child in for patch testing, for EE or for allergies in general. I'm attaching some photos of my son's tests just to share.
In my research for information I found a lot of references to patch testing for contact dermatitis and the main things it tested for was metals and chemicals that irritate peoples skin over time. I was totally confused how this related to eosinophilic esophagitis. We were going to test for foods only, it turns out, despite the paperwork they mailed me. I did finally find ONE great letter from Dr. Jonathan Spergel from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on the APFED website ( http://www.apfed.org/faqs.htm Question #4) that explained in much greater detail about why we do patch testing and what it indicates in EE. Basically, scratch testing and patch testing examine different "systems". Scratch testing shows immediate reactions to foods, patch testing shows delayed reactions to foods. People who have delayed reactions to foods have a difficult time pinpointing the culprit foods. This test should help with that.
We had just done scratch testing in January and my son had tested negative for several things that he had tested positive to in the past. We were very excited that we might be able to return some foods to his diet. With the patch testing though, he still tested positive to most everything and a couple new things! And if you test positive on either test, that food is recommended to be removed from the diet. So back to square one. But I do believe in my heart that his body must be improving since he got over his wheat allergy according to both tests, and he is not testing "as positive" as in the past to other things, if there is such a thing. Allergy testing is so not cut and dry.
Our experience with the patch testing in general was very good. It only took about 15 min. to get all the little cups of food taped onto my son's back. He thought it was quite hysterical that he was wearing baby food on his back! He just turned four so they had a little difficulty finding room for five strips of food cups, but it all worked out. He wore those test strips for 48 hours. He didn't complain about any discomfort or itching or anything. I think he was most annoyed that I wouldn't let him play too hard and get sweaty! After 48 hours, the office removed the test strips and took the initial reading. It didn't look too bad at the time. I was able to see two spots that looked positive. More grew over the 24 hour period until the next reading. My son still had no complaints of itching or anything which was good. At the final reading though, he was covered in spots. He tested positive for quite a few things. It's now over two weeks later and he still has a spot where he tested positive for egg (his most serious allergy).
I hope this helps other parents who are wondering what to expect when taking their child in for patch testing, for EE or for allergies in general. I'm attaching some photos of my son's tests just to share.
4 comments:
I showed this to my 12 yr old and she started crying. She had the "prick test" done when she was 3 and was traumatized by it. The doctoer told her it would feel "like a caterpillar" crawling on her back. It didn't! I'm glad that your experience with the patches was a good one. Thank you for posting the pictures, I think it does make it a lot easier when you know what to expect.
I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's experience. My son had his first scratch test done when he was about 2 1/2 and he thought it tickled, especially the drawing on his back. I guess everyone has different tolerance levels. Plus, he was younger. I'm told my son is not typical in terms of medical things... he's had his blood drawn so many times and watches them make several attempts to get the blood to come out, poking and wiggling the needle. He has cried once, a tiny bit. He's a real trooper. We've been lucky. That said, I think he did well on this test and that most kids would also do well, considering there was no poking or scratching of any kind. The tape removal was the worst part! And even that wasn't bad.
Tracy,
I am 22 years old and have been diagnosed with EE after over 3 years of testing. I have not been able to properly identify my food allergies and still continue to have problems. I live in Florida and the only allergy testing I have received is the RAST test and the skin scratch test. I have been collecting my own information about the patch test and would like to get information on where it is available in the US. If you have any information you could provide me, it would be greatly appreciated! I am so happy to hear that your son has found some answers. I just had an emergency endoscopy two days ago because I was losing rapid weight and had a food impaction. I continue to fight nausea and vomiting on a regular basis and I am ready for some answers.
Thank you,
Katie
Katie, interestingly enough, my 37 yo. sister was just diagnosed with EE about two weeks ago. This is after several years of issues. Finally, a scope showed what was going on. She was sent to a dietician and was just going to eliminate the big 6 allergens. The dietician told her to be allergy tested before starting the diet just to make sure that it was in line with things. She ended up being allergic to a bunch of other things, even strange things, and the diet likely would not have given her complete relief. She only had scratch testing done.
I have no information on who does or where to get patch testing. Our allergist said they just started doing it and getting decent results. Have you asked the allergist who did your scratch testing? I would suggest going to www.apfed.org to see if you can find any information specific to specialists in FL. Take care of yourself.
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