Health Tip: Testing for Allergies

(HealthDay News) -- If you're allergic to one or more things, your doctor may recommend allergy testing to find out what's behind your symptoms.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine offers this look at different types of allergy diagnostics:

• Skin tests, which involve placing potential allergens under the skin to look for any reaction. Skin tests can gauge pollen, food, mold and other potential allergens.
• An elimination diet test looks for foods that can be causing allergy symptoms, and involves removing foods from the diet one at a time.
• Blood tests can be used to detect antibodies to potential allergens in the blood.
• Provocation (challenge) testing exposes someone to particular allergens in a controlled environment to see if there is a reaction.