Allergies make life miserable for many, many people.

Some of the more common symptoms are itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, coughing, and hives.

Allergies can develop at any time of life from childhood to adolescence and even into adulthood.

Approximately 50 million people suffer from allergies in the United States alone.

Diagnosing an allergy can be quite difficult particularly because many allergy symptoms are very similar to the common head cold.

Allergy testing may be recommended to rule out other causes of the symptoms.

Allergy symptoms vary a great deal depending upon the person,they can be mild, moderate or severe.

The difference is that most head colds last about a week, and then the symptoms start to disappear and you feel better.

With an allergy, the symptoms begin immediately following exposure to the allergen and continue as long as you are exposed to the allergen and in some cases longer.

If you have a mild allergy, the symptoms are likely to be sneezing, itchy or watery eyes running or stuffy nose, head congestion, and coughing, symptoms that are similar to a head cold.

Symptoms that are associated with a moderate allergy include Itchiness of the skin and difficulty breathing.

If you have a severe allergy you are usually under strict medication because you could experience anaphylaxis that can lead to hospitalisation or even death.

If you have an allergy to food, the symptoms usually develop within minutes or up to an hour after eating.

You could find it difficult to breathe and swallow, as well as experiencing itching of the mouth, vomiting, diarrhoea, or abdominal pain.

You can also suffer from hives or eczema from the food allergens as they enter the blood stream.

Skin allergies occur when your skin comes in contact with an allergen that it sees as harmful.

Common symptoms of skin allergies include hives or rashes on your skin that usually occur within 48 hours of exposure.

Other symptoms include redness, swelling, blistering, and itching.

Food allergies are harder to diagnose as they may require blood allergy testing.

Before allergy testing is carried out you may need to stop certain medicines that could interfere with the test.

Once you know what is causing your allergies, you can avoid the allergen or take necessary medications or herbs to reduce your symptoms.

If you discover that you have an allergy, the best thing that you can do is avoid the allergen if it is at all possible.

If you require further information on allergy testing at home please click here.