If your body has a bad reaction like a rash to something that you have come into contact with, it is likely that you have an allergy to that substance.
The substance that causes the allergy is called an allergen.
An allergen can be absolutely anything that might cause a reaction in your body if your body takes a dislike to it.
It will treat it as an enemy and produce chemicals such as histamine to fight it.
Even everyday things like sunlight and air can cause severe reactions in some people if the body is susceptible to those allergens.
Allergy testing can help you to establish if the reaction is due to an allergy rather than to some other cause or it could rule out the possibility that you are suffering from an allergy.
Some of the most common allergies are caused by food and can be very serious.
Probably the most common of the food allergies is that to nuts and in particular peanuts.
Other common allergic reactions to food can occur with rice, milk, eggs and wheat.
These are probably the better-known substances that can cause an allergic reaction.
Fish and seafood can also quite commonly cause an allergic reaction.
Some people with this allergy will carry on eating the food because they enjoy it so much but they may be putting themselves at risk.
Because allergic reactions to foods usually affect respiration, digestion and the ability to ward of disease as well as initially a redness and itchy skin, these are considered generally to be more serious.
However it is the nut family, especially peanuts, that pose the most serious and life threatening allergic reactions and can even be just a simple case of contact with them so allergy testing for this particular food is a good idea.
Even flowers can prove harmful to people that are allergic to the pollen, causing breathing problems and even damage to their airways.
Some drugs can cause allergic reactions, for example penicillin.
An allergic reaction to nickel is very common in many people, a small number of people can have an allergic skin reaction to silver and gold.
Metal allergies usually cause skin related symptoms like hives, rashes or the skin turning a deep red and even swelling.
If you discover that you are allergic to something, you should try to avoid it and in the case of food, do not eat the food causes you a problem because allergic reactions can be serious enough to kill.
If you would like more information on allergy testing at home please click here.
