Depending on your symptoms, Dr. Talib may diagnose your allergies using one or more of a number of methods. Here are some tools your doctor is likely to use to conclusively determine which substances are causing your allergic symptoms.

1. History

Your first visit to the doctor for allergy symptoms will probably begin with a physical examination and a history. Your physician may ask you when your symptoms began, what sorts of foods you ate around the time they started, and what changes you may have experienced in your environment.
In almost all cases, your doctor will supplement the history with diagnostic testing. The history can help pinpoint potential allergens to focus on, or to choose which testing methods might be most appropriate.

2. Prick Tests

A prick test, or scratch test, is often used to test a number of potential allergens at one time. The allergist tests a number of allergens on the thin skin of the forearm or the back. A positive test will show as a hive, or wheal. An inconclusive prick test will usually be followed by a more sensitive test.

3. Elimination Diet

An elimination diet can be undertaken in several ways, depending on the allergist supervising it, but the basic principle is the same: the diet begins with a limited set of foods that are deemed unlikely to cause a reaction. Other foods are added one by one over a period of days or weeks. While the elimination diet can be tedious, it can be an effective way to determine which substances are problematic when skin testing is inconclusive. It can also help diagnose food intolerances, which may cause problematic symptoms but will not show up on an allergy test.

4. Oral Food Challenge

An oral food challenge is risky and always carried out under close medical supervision, but will conclusively show the presence of an allergy. In a food challenge, patients ingest suspected allergens and are observed over a number of hours to determine whether they have an allergic reaction.

5. ELISA TEST

This test uses a technology to analyze semi-quantitative serum levels of total IgG antibodies for 96 combined foods. Dr. Talib will provide patients with a personalized rotation diet plan, shopping list and alternatives to the food allergens. This is an ideal test for patients with suspected food allergies or food sensitivities, which is an overwhelming 70-80% of patients.