Children’s allergy testing on the Gold Coast
When your child reacts to a food, the not-knowing is often the hardest part. Was it an allergy? Will it happen again? What do we avoid, and what’s actually safe? Careful allergy testing turns that uncertainty into answers.
At Little Reactions, testing always starts with the story — a detailed history of what your child ate or touched, what happened, and how quickly. The right tests then confirm or rule out what the story suggests, so you’re never chasing results that don’t mean anything.
Why Dr O’Reilly
Specialist care, not a fifteen-minute appointment
Dr Elize O’Reilly (BMedSci, MBBS(Hons), MHL, FRACP) is a paediatric immunologist and allergist and a general paediatrician — the specialist in the room at every appointment. Care at Little Reactions is unhurried, evidence-based and explained in plain language, and your GP stays in the loop with letters you can both read.
- FRACP specialist
- Paediatric-only practice
- Same-day test results
How we test
Testing is chosen to answer a specific question — never a blanket panel “just in case”. Depending on your child’s story, that may include:
- Skin-prick testing in the clinic, gentle enough for babies, usually with results within about twenty minutes and explained the same day
- Blood tests (specific IgE) where they add genuine information, arranged through your local pathology provider
- Medically supervised food challenges — the gold standard for confirming or ruling out a food allergy, done gradually in a controlled setting
What happens after testing
A test result is only useful if it changes what you do next. Every family leaves with:
- Results explained in plain language, the same day wherever possible
- A written plan: what’s confirmed, what’s ruled out, what to avoid and what’s safe
- An ASCIA action plan and adrenaline injector training where they’re needed
- A letter to your GP that you can actually read
