What is a Board-Certified Allergist?

Board certified allergists are specialists who have met the highest level of nationally-recognized standards for education and expertise in the field of allergy, asthma and immunology. This formal and lengthy education process is necessary to cultivate the expertise required to provide the highest-quality of care for patients with allergies and asthma. By achieving board certification, allergists demonstrate their commitment to excellence and expertise in their field, which translates to state-of-the-art, evidence-based care.

What are the Benefits of Seeing a Board Certified Allergist?

Board certification tells you that your doctor has attained the highest level of expertise to treat your health issues.

How do you find a Board-Certified Allergist?

When you start searching for an allergist/immunologist, it’s important to make sure you find a doctor you are comfortable with and you can trust. Search online for information about the doctors you are considering and ask people you trust for names of physicians they recommend. Then visit Certification Matters and enter your doctor’s name to determine if he or she is board-certified. This is a service that allows you to see if a specific doctor is certified.

Can you detect allergies through a blood test?

Yes. When you become allergic to an allergen, your body creates special antibodies to fight against it. These allergic antibodies are called IgE antibodies. IgE antibodies are formed in the bone marrow and travel in the bloodstream before being deposited in the skin and other tissues where they remain for weeks to months. Although allergy skin tests are considered the gold standard for allergy testing, blood testing can also be used to measure IgE antibodies circulating in your bloodstream

What types of tests are there for allergies?

There are three main ways to get tested for allergies: Skin Tests – Skin tests are commonly used to identify many potential allergens, including airborne, food-related, and contact allergens. Blood Tests – If you are not a candidate for an allergy skin test, your allergist may suggest a blood test. Elimination Diet – To detect which foods are causing an allergic reaction, your allergist may recommend an elimination diet. This involves removing certain foods from your diet and determining if you're symptoms improve, and then adding the food back to see if you have a reaction.

Do allergy tests hurt?

The skin prick or scratch test and intradermal test may cause slight discomfort. If you are sensitive to any of the allergens being tested, your skin may itch where the allergen was placed.

How can you treat non-life threatening allergic reactions at home?

The first step is to avoid the allergen if you know what triggers a reaction. But if an allergic reaction occurs, there are several ways to treat them at home: Antihistamines – Helps treat minor allergic reactions regardless of the cause. Anti-inflammatory Medication – Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS) can help temporarily reduce allergy symptoms. Saline Sinus Rinse – If your allergies cause sinus problems, it’s recommended to rinse your sinuses with saline to clear the allergens from your airways. Skin Allergy Treatments – If a skin allergy occurs, you can apply corticosteroid creams or calamine lotion to reduce symptoms, an ice pack can also help reduce inflammation and allergy symptoms.

How long does an allergy test take to administer?

Not very long. The skin prick and intradermal tests are performed in the allergist’s office and take about 20 minutes total. Your skin may start to show reactions to certain allergens such as foods, environmental allergens or insect venoms. Patch tests are used to identify if a chemical may be the cause of delayed skin rashes. The patches are applied and worn for about 48 hours and then removed. Blood tests results may take up to a week to return from the laboratory.

Are hay fever and allergic rhinitis the same thing?

Yes, allergic rhinitis is simply the proper medical term for hay fever. “Hay fever” is somewhat of a misnomer since allergic rhinitis is usually not caused by hay, nor does it result in a fever.

When is hay fever the worst in Jacksonville?

The mild temperatures in Northeast Florida mean that trees start producing spring pollen early in our area– in some years as soon as December. Unfortunately, the Jacksonville area does not really have a hay fever “off-season.” Our warm winters and early springs mean that allergic rhinitis sufferers may be exposed to pollen year-round.

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Jax Allergy

A Victory for Children with Food Allergies

Patrick DeMarco MD. President-Florida Allergy, Asthma Immunology Society

This past January, a first-grade girl in Virginia who was allergic to peanuts died at school from a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) after she was given peanuts by another child. This story was heartbreaking on many levels, but the true poverty was that she did not receive life-saving epinephrine because she did not have access to a personal epinephrine injector at her school. Since epinephrine is the only medicine capable of stopping anaphylaxis, her death would likely have been avoided if her school had a reserve supply of epinephrine and administered it in a timely manner.

The Virginia State Legislature quickly responded to this tragedy with a law requiring every school to have a “stock” supply of epinephrine and school staff be trained on the recognition and treatment of anaphylaxis. Since then, similar bills have also been proposed in the US Senate and House of Representatives.

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to join with several local and state allergists at the Florida Medical Association (FMA) meeting. Our state allergy society presented a unified resolution before the FMA to petition the Florida State Legislature to require that school personnel receive instruction on how to recognize the warning signs of anaphylaxis and how to administer injectable epinephrine for a child experiencing a life threatening allergic reaction. Like the Virginia law, the resolution urges that all schools have a non-student specific epinephrine auto-injector on standby.

It was very rewarding to see this resolution approved by the FMA thanks to the efforts of an incredibly passionate group of allergists, pediatricians and northeast Florida physicians who provided testimony on behalf of this critical resolution. This is a tremendous victory for our children with food allergies. It was truly an honor to be a part this delegation of physician leaders and it is a bold testament to the passion and dedication of physicians when it comes to providing the best possible care for our patients– especially the 200,000 Florida school children who suffer from food allergies.

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Jax Allergy

A Victory for Children with Food Allergies

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