Test Your Child's Skin To Gauge Poison Oak Allergies Before A Move To The Country

Health & Medical Blog

The big city has let you down one last time, and you're ready to move to the country to raise your family and pursue a great career. This move could protect your family in many ways but also exposes them to new problems such as poison oak. Thankfully, allergy skin tests can help them avoid serious problems. 

Your Children May Be Exposed to Poison Oak After a Move

Moving to a new rural area can provide you and your children with a variety of unique benefits. For example, you can feel safer in most rural communities and enjoy a more relaxed environment. Just as importantly, your children can have a larger place to run and play, which allows them to explore and have fun adventures right on your property.

Unfortunately, your child might not be prepared for the unique challenges that are inherent to this new environment. For example, many plants – such as poison oak or poison ivy – may cause problematic allergic reactions and can be hard for a child new to the country to identify.

Poison Oak May Trigger an Allergic Reaction

Since so many people are allergic to poison oak – particularly children – there is a good chance that your child will suffer a reaction to it that can be quite painful. For example, contact may trigger contact dermatitis, a red and itchy rash that takes several days from which to recover and which may spread rapidly across the body if your child is allowed to scratch.

The worst thing about poison oak is that it is often harder to identify than poison ivy because many children are taught to avoid that plant at a young age. As a result, your children may accidentally climb a tree in your yard – fully exploring their new and more rural environment – and end up with very painful rashes all over their body. Thankfully, allergy skin tests can ensure you know about any of their allergies.

The Nature of Allergy Skin Tests

If you're worried about your child getting exposed to poison oak when you move to a new rural area, contact your doctor to get an allergy skin test right away. These simple tests will expose your child to a small amount of a contagion – such as poison oak – and see how their skin reacts. If your child breaks out in a typical rash – which includes a raised and itchy bump – they are likely allergic to poison oak.

While you're at the doctor's office, you may want to give your child a multitude of allergy tests to ensure that they won't experience any difficulties later in life. For example, you can give them tests for peanut, pistachio, almond, and other nuts to ensure that they don't experience a very nasty reaction when they eat these foods again.

Thankfully, this type of test can be done by a multitude of different doctors, which means you shouldn't have a hard time finding one who works for you. So reach out to an allergy specialist such as Allergy Asthma Specialists to learn more about this beneficial test.

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