Allergy Testing in Houston, TX

An allergy test is the first step to get rid of your allergy symptoms. Dr. Cilento is also an experienced allergy doctor in Houston.

Many seasonal allergy issues can lead to or be the root cause of sinus and snoring problems like allergic rhinitis, nasal polyps, sinusitis, sinus pressure and sinus headache. It does no good to fix a sinus issue without fixing what is causing the sinus issue.

As part of our mission for comprehensive care we believe allergy testing and treating your seasonal allergies are steps in the path to sinus health.

How Does Allergy Testing Work?

Allergies testing helps you identify what allergens are causing your sinus symptoms. It can be done one of two ways, a blood test and a skin test.

Two Part Allergy Skin Test

At Texas Sinus & Snoring we do allergy skin testing in two parts. According to the AAFA, allergy skin tests are the most reliable and least expensive way to check for airborne and seasonal allergies.

Allergy Skin Test Part One

The first part of the test is a skin prick (also known as a scratch test) with antigen attached to it. The prick only reaches the top layer of the skin. It’s relatively painless. We label each test spot with the specific allergen that’s placed there.

If the area swells and becomes red, like a mosquito bite, the test for that allergen is positive. We can often know within 15-20 minutes what the allergy trigger is.

Allergy Skin Test Part Two

If needed, we then do a retest on anything that pops negative. We use intradermal injections with a small amount of antigen in them. We do this to confirm if it is truly a negative or if it was a positive.

We don’t do the whole test with the intradermals because if you do have severe allergies to something, it could put you at risk for a reaction. So, we do the prick test first to minimize the amount of intradermals. This reduces the risk for a reaction.

Allergy Blood Test

Not used as often is an allergy blood test. We draw blood and then send it to a lab to check for allergen specific antibodies in your blood. Since this can change day to day, an allergy blood test isn’t quite as thorough as the skin test. This is why we typically only offer allergy skin testing at Texas Sinus & Snoring.

Treating Allergies After Your Allergy Test

Allergy Shots After Your Allergy Test

Treatment of your allergies is the next step in breaking the cycle of seasonal allergies. You have options for your treatment, one of those is allergy shots.

Allergy Drops After Your Allergy Test

Treatment of your allergies is the next step in breaking the cycle of seasonal allergies. You have options for your treatment, one of those is allergy drops.

Looking for an Allergy Doctor Houston?

Dr. Cilento’s passion is comprehensive care of the sinuses. While you may need surgery or a procedure to repair damaged sinuses, part of making sure the damage doesn’t continue is addressing seasonal allergies. Dr. Cilento is not only an allergy doctor in Houston, he is a member of the AAOA. He is considered an Otolaryngic allergist. Allergy testing is done right in our Spring, Texas office, just outside of Houston.

We treat allergies with immunotherapy, to learn more about allergy treatment, click the button below.

Houston Allergy Season

The allergy season starts with tree pollen in January. Because of Houston’s short winter season, it extends into September . The common tree pollen producers in Houston include: Cedar, Box Elder, Elm, Pine, Oak, Ash, Hackberry, Pecan, and Cedar Elm.

The next season after tree pollen is grass. For Houston, grass counts typically start to rise in March and begin to taper in July. The local common allergy-causing grass pollens include: Timothy, Bermuda, Bahia, Orchard, Sweet vernal, Red top and some blue grass. The most common grass in Houston, St. Augustine, is luckily not highly allergenic.

Ragweed is the final allergy season of the year. It starts in mid-August and extends until the cool weather sets in.