Allergies - Symptoms

Symptoms of allergies can manifest as respiratory, gastric or skin symptoms. The symptoms may vary from mild to severe based on the patient’s immune response to the allergen.

Respiratory: Itching of the eyes, sneezing, running nose, wheezing, asthma, bronchitis, cough, chest tightness and shortness of breath are the most common symptoms of respiratory allergies.

Skin: Raised, itchy bumps, rashes, redness of skin, mosquito-bite allergies, hives, itching and swelling are some of symptoms seen on the skin.

Gastric: Bloating of the stomach, abdominal cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting are symptoms seen in gastric allergy.

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of allergies is conducted in three ways.

• Case history and evaluation: our doctors conduct a detailed history to find out the symptoms and the triggers of the allergy. Usually a detailed session with our doctors is enough to broadly identify the type of allergy and the trigger.
• Physical examination: our doctors examine the patient’s airway passage and skin and conduct a general examination to look for symptoms and manifestations of allergies.
• Tests:Blood IgE tests will show whether the patient has a tendency to develop frequent allergies.A skin allergy test may be recommended to identify skin allergens. This test might be recommended occasionally to understand the exact trigger in patients.

Complications

Allergies may be mild in most cases. However, in some cases, allergies may be life threatening and may trigger certain complications, which have to be treated immediately. Complications include the following:

Anaphylaxis: It is a serious, life-threatening allergic reaction. The most common anaphylactic reactions are to foods, insect stings, medications and latex.

Asthma: A patient with an allergy has a tendency to have asthma. This will affect the airways and breathing.

Atopic dermatitis (eczema), sinusitis and infections of the ears or lungs: The patient’s tendency to getting these medical conditions is higher if they have allergic rhinitis, a pet or a mould allergy.

Fungal infections: Fungal infections are easily contracted by patients having allergies.