Sneaky Sneeze: Is It A Cold Or Is It Allergies?
Pollen season will soon be in full bloom: a season of congestion, sneezing and runny nose (hellllooo spring!). But this is also the time of year people commonly mistake their allergy symptoms for a common cold. Both a cold and allergies can share many of the same symptoms, but if you mistake your allergies for an upper respiratory infection, you may be treating it the wrong way so it’s important to know the difference between the two and treat them in the right way.
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The different between the common cold and spring allergies is often best distinguished by the time it takes for you to start feeling sick and the other symptoms involved. With a cold, you’re getting a little bit worse over the course of a few days. It starts with a tickle in the back of your throat and you may develop a sore throat and congestion within a day or two. Your fever will probably never top 100o F and the symptoms you’ll most likely experience are sore throat, congestion, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, slight body aches and fatigue.
Seasonal allergies differ from the common cold in three main ways. For one, they are never accompanied by body ache and allergies usually cause extreme itching in your nose and eyes and rarely cause a fever.
If you feel like you’ve exhausted your entire over the counter options and need some relief fast, be sure to talk with a doctor to confirm your diagnosis and receive an easy-to-follow treatment plan. Get to the bottom of what’s causing those sniffles and sneezes and see a doctor now. Relief is just a click away.