Allergy - Melon Test

Allergy to Melons is a common medical condition which goes unnoticed most of the time. But it is as harmful as any other medical condition because it may cause further complications in the future. Many general symptoms occur within the digestive system; these symptoms include:

• Itching of the mouth
• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness
• Nasal congestion
• Trouble in breathing
• Hives

There are 3 ways to see whether a person has the allergy or not. Preparations for the same are listed down below:

• Skin-prick test
• Antihistamine can interfere with the test so one has to be sure that they are off this medication before the test. Besides that if one has rashes on his/her skin then the test cannot be performed on them. But it is not a matter of grave concern as there are other tests to get the results.
• Blood Test
• The person has to be aware if the test requires fasting or not as different doctors have different ways of conducting this test for detecting allergy. Oral Food Challenge
• The person will be kept in a medical setting with small samples of food items. If one is allergic to any other food item apart from melons, it needs to be informed beforehand to avoid other reactions.

Tests conducted in order to check for a patient’s allergy to melons helps him/her in the following ways:

• Helps in detecting any signs a patient might have for allergy to melons.
• A patient can then take appropriate medication for such allergies.
• A patient can avoid such allergies in future by being aware of his/her allergies and taking medicines whenever required.

Skin-prick test: A solution is dropped in your arm/forearm following which a needle or a plastic probe is used to scrap off a certain amount of skin off for the test. Then it goes for confirmation of the allergy. The skin prick is similar to skin scratching and no blood is lost.

Blood Test: The patient needs to give the blood and then wait for results.

Oral food Challeng: As stated above in the preparation, one will be given certain food samples. The first lot will be non allergic. After that small amounts of melon will be given to the patient. The experts will keep a tab of how much threshold the body has for it. The moment the patient starts feeling uneasy they stop.