Getting your child ready for allergy testing can be a struggle because your child is not going to want to go to the doctor's office and sit still. However, in order to make sure that your child feels his or her best at all times and is able to get the medication that he or she needs to overcome his or her allergies, your child is going to need to have all of his or her allergies identified. There's no avoiding allergy testing, so here are some ways that you can prepare your child for the testing.

1. Remind Yourself That the Procedures Are Much More Mild Today

The first thing that you are going to need to do is calm yourself down. If your child has allergies, chances are good that you yourself have also had to undergo allergy testing. The allergy testing that you had to go through is much different than the testing that your child is going to have to go through because of new technological discoveries. If you have negative memories about your own allergy testing in the past, do some more research about today's methods to satisfy yourself that your child is not going to be in an excessive amount of pain. Being calm when telling your child about the allergy testing will help your child remain calm.

2. Don't Give Your Child Antihistamines a Week Before the Test

Stop giving your child antihistamines at least a week before the test. Depending on your child's size, your doctor might recommend stopping earlier or closer to the date. You want to make sure that your child does not have any antihistamines in his or her system or else it could cause the results of the test to be incorrect or otherwise altered and give a false negative. To help your child cope with the lack of antihistamines, make sure that you make plenty of soup that week to help drain his or her sinuses.

3. Practice With a Plastic Toothpick 

If your child is worried about how the skin pricks are going to feel, assuage his or her fears by pricking his or her skin with a plastic toothpick. Do not push the toothpick into the skin because it is not sharp enough. Pushing the toothpick against the skin will simulate a more accurate experience. This will help your child convince him or herself that he or she will be able to handle the allergy testing.

For more information, talk to your doctor or a clinic like Allergy Asthma & Immunology Center.