All
staff is Allergy trained and knowledgable about allergic diseases. The
office is always staffed with an R.N. or L.P.N, plus specialty trained
lab technicians.
Procedure Information
The Asthma and Allergy Center has the capability to perform allergy skin testing by both the puncture and intradermal methods to airborne allergens. Dr. Shier has pioneered the use of a local anesthetic cream that will reduce or eliminate the discomfort typically associated with the intradermal skin test method.
Food allergy may be diagnosed by skin test or blood test. More importantly we may be able to rule out food allergy and place suspected foods back in your diet. Food challenges over a period of 4 hours is considered once the degree of allergy to the food has been determined.
Allergy testing to medications and immunizations is also available by either skin tests or blood tests. Presently, materials used to test for penicillin are not available in the United States. It is our hope that a pharmaceutical company will take on this challenge in the near future.
Computerized pulmonary function studies are available to assist us in diagnosing and treating asthma. A pulse oximeter is available to measure blood oxygen levels just by placing a probe on your finger.
A visit for consultation can be as short as 1 hour or as long as 3 hours, depending upon the testing necessary. Typically, there is a follow up visit to review all findings and perform additional testing when needed.
