Friday, December 31, 2010

Corn allergy testing done home style.......

Okay - not sure I even want to admit this but Matt and I have decided to test Allie for a corn allergy our style.  It's not that we don't believe her allergy test results (severe allergy to corn) but with any allergy test you always run the risk of getting a "false positive" result.  I talked to Dr. Edmonson about this and he said that due to the severity of her reaction to corn, it most likely isn't a false positive.  However, you never know for sure.  So, Matt and I have been thinking and we have decided to experiment with a little test ourselves. 

Go ahead and laugh at us, criticize us or think it's clever - it's okay and we can take it.  But desperate times sometimes calls for desperate measures.  So....if you cannot tell already, we are desperate!!!  Last night after Allie's bath, we decided to start our own version of "patch allergy testing".  I cannot even hold a straight face while I type this.  Our little experiment is so ridiculous it's funny.  Anyway, Matt got a bandage out and soaked it with corn syrup then we put it on her back.   Allie was all excited because she was getting a Princess and the Frog bandage. 

We have no idea if this little experiment will work or not but we figure it's worth a try.  Of course we are a little nervous because we don't know what type of "corn product" they used on Allie's back so maybe the corn syrup we used will be very strong or very weak - we have no idea.  Since we don't know, we have decided to remove Allie's bandage every 24 hours to check her skin.  So, at 9:00 tonight it was 24 hours - we removed the bandage and NOTHING!!  The only red on her skin was from the bandage itself.  The part that had the corn syrup on it showed absolutely nothing.  So.....I'm beginning to think our little experiment isn't working. My guess is the corn syrup isn't potent enough but you never know.  For the type of allergic reaction that Allie has (Type IV - hypersensitivity delayed reaction), it can take 24-72 hours for her body to react and start sending T-cells to the affected area.  We put the bandage back on Allie's back and we will wait another 24 hours and see what happens.

Stay tuned for results of our home style patch allergy testing. 

Here are a couple pictures of Allie with her bandage and what her back looked like tonight.


This is the start of Allie's home style allergy patch test.  Princess and the Frog bandage with corn syrup - corny I know. You can still see the mark to the left - that is where her first corn reaction was the other week.

Matt trying to take Allie's bandage off tonight - she didn't like that part.

No reaction yet - you can barely see where the bandage was.

Little miss Chloe loving her Hello Kitty pj's and slippers

Allie modeling her new tutu pajama's - these are her new favorite!


3 comments:

  1. The adhesive on band-aids is almost always made from corn. If she was red and irritated where the band-aid was, you have patch test results that are positive to corn. Just not how you expected.

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  2. Thanks - I do know that now. However, Allie didn't have any type of reaction previously to any adhesive even the one used by our ENT for her patch allergy testing. This was the first reaction she had and now we avoid band-aids.

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  3. Do you knowif it is possible for 3 children (brothers) can allbhave corn allergies presenting in behavor problems?

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