Allergies

Both children and adults alike suffer from daily allergies. The physical and mental anguish this can cause can easily ruin a perfectly fine day. Just coming in contact with your surroundings during your daily activities can activate your symptoms, causing a tremendous amount of discomfort. The good news is that viable treatment options are available to you here at Allergy & Skin Spa. At our Los Angeles office, Dr. Kia provides patch and autoimmune disease testing as well as treatment options for both food and environmental allergies. Get in touch to experience relief today.

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What Could Be Causing My Allergies?

Allergy symptoms are caused by exposure to allergens that your body is reactive toward. Certain sensitivities can be lifelong or can occur seemingly out of nowhere later in life. It is often the case that people who experience allergic reactions often have a difficult time identifying their triggers. In most cases, reactions occur due to environmental contact and food sensitivity. To determine which may be the source of your issues, get in touch with our office today.

Food Allergies

A food sensitivity can occur when an individual’s body cannot properly process a particular food. Symptoms such as abdominal pain, intestinal gas or diarrhea, and skin outbreak can result. Food sensitivity differs from a food allergy. Food allergies have the potential of leading to serious or life-threatening reactions, such as anaphylaxis. Symptoms of a food sensitivity and food allergy can appear to be similar, but the differences between the two are important to understand. A true food allergy can be life threatening, while a food sensitivity can leave you feeling off physically and even miserable. Food sensitivities are definitely a factor worth analyzing if you suffer from acne. Studies show dairy products and high glycemic foods can trigger acne. Discovering and understanding food and drink sensitivities, and the effects they have on your skin and overall health, is important to ensure you make the best possible choices to optimize your diet and therefore improve the health of your skin. By identifying and eliminating harmful foods from your diet, you can take an important step forward to improving your skin.

Environmental Allergies

Environmental allergies, or allergic rhinitis, are caused when your immune system reacts abnormally to something in your environment which is usually harmless otherwise. They are different from other kinds of reactions because the symptoms are not caused as a result of something you consume, but rather because of the contents of your environment. You can have an environmental allergy just by coming in contact with your surroundings during your daily activities. Both children and adults alike suffer from environmental allergies. These concerns can be divided into two types- seasonal and perennial. Seasonal allergies, as the name suggests, are reactions you have during certain seasons when pollen is highly prevalent, such as spring. On the other hand, perennial allergies occur throughout the year, regardless of which season it is. This is because you may be constantly exposed to certain things you are allergic to throughout the year such as dander or mold.

How Do Hives Develop?

One of the most common signs of a reaction is the appearance of hives. Hives are an outbreak of pale red bumps or welts on the skin that appear suddenly. The swelling that often comes with hives is called angioedema. Allergic reactions, chemicals in certain foods, insect stings, sunlight, and medications can cause. Swellings, known as wheals, appear as a rash on the skin. They are usually pink or red, with an oval or round shape. They can range from a few millimeters to several inches across. They can be extremely itchy, and they have a red flare around them. The welts usually occur in batches, frequently on the face or the extremities, including the arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, and toes. Welts normally disappear within 24 hours, but new ones may form. They can appear on just one part of the body, or on several parts.

What Are the Signs of a Rash?

Rashes are also quite common in those struggling with allergies. Everything from household cleaning liquids, hair dye, jewelry or even a favorite perfume could be responsible for the red rashes, itchiness, dryness, or other symptoms experienced by someone with allergic contact dermatitis. The painless process by which patch testing is done makes it a preferred method of allergy testing. Dr. Kia and his highly qualified team use this technique to ensure all potentially problematic substances or allergy “triggers” that could be causing allergic contact dermatitis are correctly identified. Patch testing is a simple procedure that the doctor will perform to zero in on substances you may come into contact with at your home, your place of work or leisure or places you otherwise frequent. Allergic reactions typically show up anywhere from 2-4 days after the doctor applies the patches to your body. In some people this could take longer, even up to a week. Carried out by an experienced doctor, it can be the most efficient way to discover allergic contact dermatitis in an individual. As it is a limited test, it does not help identify food allergies, and also doesn’t test for hives or urticaria. There are alternative tests for those issues.