Patch Test (medicine)
A patch test is a method used to determine if a specific substance causes allergic inflammation of the skin. Any individual with eczema suspected of having allergic contact dermatitis and/or atopic dermatitis needs patch testing.
Patch testing helps identify which substances may be causing a reaction in a patient. It is intended to produce a local allergic reaction on a small area of your back where the diluted chemicals were planted. The chemicals included in the patch test kit are the offenders in approximately 85-90 percent of contact allergic eczema and include chemicals present in metals (e.g. nickel), rubber, leather, hair dyes, formaldehyde, lanolin, fragrance, preservative and other additives.
Read more about Patch Test (medicine): Mechanism, Setting Up A Service, Process, Interpretation of The Results, Common Allergens, Food Allergy
Famous quotes containing the words patch and/or test:
“I sing a hero’s head, large eye
And bearded bronze, but not a man,
Although I patch him as I can
And reach through him almost to man.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great. Failure is the true test of greatness. And if it be said, that continual success is a proof that a man wisely knows his powers,—it is only to be added, that, in that case, he knows them to be small.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)