How I found a new food allergy doctor

(Photo by: Marcin Wichary)

We began looking for a new food allergy doctor recently. It's really hard to find new doctors, in general, but if you throw in needing a specialist who does specialized tests, it's really hard.

My daughter needs a doctor who can perform prick, patch, and blood food allergy testing. Come to find out, not many doctors do patch allergy testing. I knew it wasn't commonly done, but I didn't realize finding a doctor who did it was uncommon. Basically, the need for that test depends on the type of food allergy. It is believed that she has two types of food allergies: a lower GI allergy and an upper-GI allergy.

Most concerning to my husband and me is the upper-GI allergy. This is the one that could cause anaphylactic shock so we'd really like to know which foods to avoid. Soon, we'll be able to get enough input from our daughter to know if she's feeling itching/discomfort/weirdness in her throat, but until then, it's a guessing game. So, we'd like to have some tests to help us in the process.

How I found our new food allergy doctor:

1. Contacted our awesome family practice doctor and asked for a list of allergists he liked.


2. Contacted her pediatric GI doctor to ask for a list of allergists he liked.


3. Checked the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology for nearby, board certified doctors


4. Called each office to talk with the office manager or staff about the type of tests done, how many pediatric patients they see, how easy it is to see the doctor once you're an established patient, etc.


5. Checked some online reviews of the doctors.


6. Called friends to inquire about their allergist experiences.

Yep. That's a lot of work to find a doctor, BUT I think it might have paid off! Thus far, we really like our new allergist, and I am actually looking forward to working with him in the future!