Allergies and Your Child

Parents would do everything to protect their child, that's human instinct. We wouldn't want our children to get sick, so we do everything to protect them. But getting sick and having allergies is common among our children, right? As they age, they try to explore new things, new places, new foods and a whole lot more. Kids acquire many different types of allergies, and allergy testing is a must to give them full protection.

How do you know if your child has allergy? Although most parents just think of a runny nose when they think of allergies, there are actually a range of allergy symptoms, here are some of them:

• Runny nose with clear discharge
• Frequent sneezing, stuffy nose, and itchy nose
• Itchy red rash that may come and go
• Itchy, teary eyes
• Dark circles around the eyes

The symptoms of allergy in children can include a runny nose, a blocked or stuffy nose, coughing, wheezing, rashes and redness in the face. But it's also true that many of those symptoms can also be associated with childhood illnesses, so allergy testing is a must.

A food allergy is an adverse immune response to a food protein. The food protein triggering the allergic response is termed a food allergen. Most common food allergies in children are milk and eggs. If your child eats a food that he is allergic to, he will quickly develop any number of food allergy symptoms, which can range from simple hives and vomiting, to a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction.

"Hay fever" is actually an allergic rhinitis triggered by the pollens of specific seasonal plant. Symptoms of allergic rhinitis, or hay fever, frequently include nasal congestion, a clear runny nose, sneezing, nose and eye itching, and excess tear production in the eyes. Eliminating exposure to allergens is the most effective preventive measure, but requires consistent effort.

Asthma is a chronic disease that causes the airways - the tubes that carry air in and out of your lungs - to become sore and swollen. Many things can trigger asthma such as; allergens (pollens), irritants (smoke), weather, exercise and infection.

Kids could be allergic to many things, there is actually a good number of common allergies among children like; food allergies (eggs, peanuts, cow's milk, wheat, sea-foods), eczema, hives, hay fever, asthma, reaction to stinging insects and some other serious type of allergies. Have your children tested for allergy if you are suspecting that they really have. Allergy testing is a safe procedure to diagnose the kind of allergy your child has.

Ralph Ern is an author on subjects pertaining to weight loss, allergy testing, stop smoking therapy, complementary therapies, skin care, Dermalogica, and eyelash extension. Visit Allergy Testing for Amber's holistic therapy services including eyelash extension.