The Cystic Fibrosis Sweat Test is Painless
For over four decades the sweat test has been the standard test for the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. Its purpose is to measure the amount of sodium chloride (salt) in a person's sweat.
The procedure is performed by applying a small amount of a sweat-producing chemical to a small area on an arm or leg. An electrode is placed over this area, in which a very weak, painless electric current will produce a warm feeling. After a set number of minutes, the sweat collected from this area will be sent to a lab for testing. A set number of these tests will be run. This will rule out a false positive. A consistently high level of salt will indicate cystic fibrosis.
Unlike many of the medical tests that we take, the sweat test does not cause any pain or discomfort. When our son was first diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, his doctor wanted to do sweat tests on our whole family. I approached this with much trepidation. But the doctor explained that it would not cause any discomfort to our other children, which was my main concern. He told us that sometimes, though rarely, the symptoms of cystic fibrosis are mild and might not show up until the children were older. It was best that we find out now.
I hung onto the hope that maybe our son did not have cystic fibrosis, and maybe the test was not accurate, but the doctor told me that sweat tests are rarely inconclusive. About the only time that sweat test are inconclusive is when an insufficient amount of sweat is collected at the time of the test. He said that sometimes this happens with infants because they don't produce much sweat; that is why they run the test more than once.
I am thankful that we have the sweat test, and it is accurate. Of all the medical tests done, this was the most comfortable.
Published by Kathi Downs
I am the wife and mother of three grown sons; and I have 6 precious grandchildren, 3 boys and 3 girls. Reading and writing has always been a passion of mine. View profile
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- Tests the salt in sweat.