Skin prick testing is used by many practices as a method of skin testing. Rather than using individual syringes that inject allergen into the skin, skin testing is done through a device that can deliver one or multiple antigens simultaneously into the skin. Skin-prick testing is helpful when testing for food allergies and many practices use it for both food and environmental allergens. This is done on the inner forearm, is generally painless, and is less invasive than other forms of food or environmental allergy testing.

Results are found after 15 minutes by measuring the “wheals” or reactions with a small ruler. A second measurement is taken, though, as the surrounding redness is measured separately, along with the wheal size.