Allergy, Asthma & Immunotherapy

A skin prick test checks whether your immune system reacts to proteins you breathe or eat. Small drops of common allergens are placed on the skin, usually the forearm, and the skin is lightly pricked. If you are sensitised, a small itchy bump (wheal) comes up within about 15 minutes. A histamine drop is used as a positive control and a plain drop as a negative control, so the reading is compared with those, not guessed.

The usual panel covers airborne triggers such as house-dust mite, pollens, moulds and animal dander, and selected foods when the history suggests them. It is used for allergic rhinitis (allergic cold), suspected allergic asthma, and some patients with recurrent wheeze or cough that fits an allergic pattern. It does not, by itself, prove that every positive item is causing your symptoms.

People with sneezing, itching, a blocked or runny nose, watery eyes, or asthma symptoms that worsen with dust, weather, pets or the season. Also patients being considered for allergen immunotherapy. It is not needed for every cough, every cold, or every person with asthma. The pulmonologist decides after history and a lung check.

No fasting. Book the test at least one day before; same-day skin prick tests are not taken. An adult attendant must come with you and sign consent — the test is not done if you attend alone. Men should shave the hair on both forearms one day before, not on the morning of the test, so the skin is not freshly cut. Do not put cream, oil or lotion on the forearms that day. Wear a shirt with sleeves that roll up.

Tell the team every tablet you take, including allergy, cold, sleep and acidity medicines. Many antihistamines (cetirizine, levocetirizine, fexofenadine, loratadine, hydroxyzine and some cold syrups) can hide a true reaction and usually need to be stopped for several days. When you book, the hospital will say which medicine to stop and for how long. Do not stop asthma inhalers, steroid tablets, blood-pressure medicines or other regular treatment unless the doctor specifically says so.

Take the appointment at least one day before the test. Walk-in skin prick testing is not offered. Call +91 93462 47154 or use the appointment form so the team can tell you which allergy tablets to stop.

Yes. An adult attendant is mandatory. Consent is signed before the test. Please do not come alone.

Yes. Men should shave both forearms one day before the test, not on the morning itself. Fresh shaving cuts can irritate the skin and make the wheals harder to read.

The forearm is cleaned and marked. Allergen drops are applied and the skin is pricked through each drop with a sterile lancet. This is uncomfortable for a moment; it is not a blood test and not a set of injections. You wait about 15 minutes in the clinic. The doctor measures any wheal and flare and explains which items reacted. Plan about 45–60 minutes for counselling, the test and the reading.

A raised, itchy wheal larger than the negative control, read against the histamine control, is a positive skin test. A larger wheal usually means stronger skin sensitivity, not automatically more severe disease. A negative test means that allergen did not react on the skin that day. The result is matched with your symptoms. A positive dust-mite test in someone who wheezes in a dusty room is useful. A positive test with no matching symptoms may not need treatment.

Skin prick testing is a standard first test for respiratory allergy, but it is not 100 percent accurate. A false positive means the skin reacts even though that allergen does not cause problems in daily life. A false negative means the skin stays quiet even though you react in real life — this can happen if an antihistamine was not stopped. If the story and the skin test do not match, the doctor may repeat the test later or rely on history and lung findings rather than the skin alone.

Most people have only local itching, which settles over minutes to a few hours. A cool cloth is usually enough. Do not scratch. Rarely, a sensitive person can develop a wider allergic reaction, including breathlessness. That is why the test is done in hospital, where it can be treated immediately, and not at home. Postpone the test if you are in the middle of an asthma attack, have a fever, or have infected or badly eczematous skin on both forearms. Tell the doctor if you have ever needed emergency treatment for allergy, or if you take a beta-blocker.

Yes, when the history suggests allergy and the child can sit still for the reading. The same medicine rules apply, including syrups that contain an antihistamine. A parent should stay with the child.

Allergy skin prick test starts from ₹1,500* at this hospital. The panel and the final bill are confirmed at reception. The test fee does not include a later immunotherapy course.

Not always. Many patients do well with trigger avoidance and regular inhalers or nasal treatment. Immunotherapy is a separate course and is explained in the next section. It is not started from a positive report alone.

No. Avoidance advice is based on what actually triggers your symptoms, not on every line of the report. Do not drop foods from a child’s diet only because of a skin test, unless the doctor confirms a food allergy.

Allergen immunotherapy exposes you, in a controlled dose, to the allergen that your tests and symptoms point to. The aim is tolerance: fewer symptoms from that trigger over time, not instant relief. It is considered for selected allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma. It is not for every cough, and not for a positive skin test that does not match your story.

Liquid drops under the tongue (sublingual immunotherapy). You place the drops under the tongue, keep them there for the time the doctor tells you, usually a minute or two, then swallow. Do not eat or drink for a few minutes afterwards. Only this liquid is used for immunotherapy here.

An allergy injection is given in the clinic on a schedule. The liquid under the tongue is taken daily, with the first dose in the clinic and later doses at home if you have been shown how. The doctor chooses the route. This page does not offer injection immunotherapy.

People with allergic cold or allergic asthma linked to a trigger found on the skin prick test, such as house-dust mite or pollen, who can take a dose every day. It is usually planned for one main trigger, not a long list of unrelated positives. It is not a treatment for food allergy on this page. Poorly controlled asthma is brought under control before it is started.

Not on the first day, and not instead of your inhaler. Symptom change, if it comes, is over months of regular use. A full course is often continued for about three years when the doctor advises it. Stopping after a few weeks is unlikely to retrain the immune system. For a seasonal trigger the doctor may time the start before that season. For dust mite it is usually taken through the year.

The report, medicines and asthma control are reviewed. The first liquid dose is taken in the hospital and you stay to be watched. You are told the daily dose, what a mild mouth itch feels like, and which reactions need a call. Do not start a bottle at home that the clinic has not demonstrated.

Itching or a mild odd feeling in the mouth, throat or ears is the common reaction and often settles in minutes. Swelling in the mouth, trouble swallowing, chest tightness, wheeze, rash or faintness is not routine. Stop the dose and contact the hospital the same day. The first doses are supervised for this reason. Tell the doctor if food starts to stick or swallowing becomes painful after you begin.

Do not take a double dose to catch up. Take the next dose at the usual time unless you have missed several days. After a gap, call before restarting. A higher dose on your own is not safe.

No. Immunotherapy does not replace the inhaler or nasal spray in the early months. Those are changed only at review, if control allows it. Continue them on a day of wheeze.

Only when the history, the skin test and the child’s ability to hold liquid under the tongue all fit. A parent gives the home doses. The doctor decides. It is not started because a parent wants to avoid an inhaler.