HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHAT I AM ALLERGIC TO?

There are a number of ways to test for allergies. They all have some advantages and some disadvantages.

The Skin Test

If you visit your doctor complaining of allergies, (s)he may refer you to the hospital for "skin testing". This involves pricking the skin of the arm or back in several places, and then applying a solution of different allergens to each pricked area. By waiting about half an hour, the doctor can then see which of the areas reacted by producing a raised bump and redness. The degree of bump will indicate the degree of sensitivity to the allergen.

This method has several drawbacks - it is fairly unpleasant to have done, especially for small children, and only a few allergens can be tested at one time. Therefore doctors tend to restrict themselves to the main allergens, which means that some lesser allergens may remain undiscovered. Also, because the test uses the skin on the outside of the body, it may not react in quite the same way as the skin in, say, the lungs, or the digestive tract, and so again some allergies may not be discovered with this test.

The Blood Test

Another commonly used method is the blood test. This is often quite expensive and the sufferer has to pay for this test himself. There have been many investigations into this method of allergy detection, with journalists and TV presenters regularly comparing results between laboratories - only to find that different allergies have been diagnosed for the same blood sample.

The Vega Test

Another increasing popular method of detection is by using a 'Vegameter'. This uses an electronic machine with an electrode that applies an electronic stimulus to acupressure points on the fingers. The other hand holds an electrode to complete the circuit, and food samples are put into the machine one at a time. A lowered reading on the machine's dials indicates an allergy is present.

Health Kinesiology Allergy Testing & Treatment

In this case, a lowered resistance within the body in the presence of the allergen is indicated by a simple muscle test. The food is placed in contact with the body, but instead of using a machine, the tester assesses the response of an "indicator muscle" (usually the arm). By gently pressing on the arm of the client, the tester can tell whether the allergen has weakened the muscle or not. A weakened muscle indicates a slight lowering of the immune system, which suggests that the food in contact with the body is causing an allergic (or inappropriate) reaction from the body. Health Kinesiology has other more sophisticated methods to determine whether the person is either allergic or intolerant to the substance, and the practitioner will then work out what needs to be done to remove the allergy.

Elimination Diet

It is possible to discover which foods are causing allergic reactions by the fairly drastic method of eliminating all foods except lamb, pears and spring water for a period of up to one week, and then slowly and gradually re-introducing one new food at a time. This creates obvious nutritional and logistic problems, especially with young children, and is a very slow method of detection, but it has worked well over the years for many people.

These are the main methods of allergy testing, although there are other methods, e.g. by computer, constantly being introduced. At the time of writing, the only method which offers a removal of allergies, as well as identification, is kinesiology.