How you can tell a cold from an allergy


Chicago Tribune (TNS)

If your “common cold” has been hanging around for more than a week, it may not be a cold at all. It might actually be an allergy disguised as a cold.

Dr. Stanley Goldstein, director of Allergy and Asthma Care of Long Island, in New York, said fall and winter allergies are just as common as spring and summer allergies. What’s different about the allergies this time of year, he added, is that most people simply don’t know they have them.

“These just don’t bring patients out of the woodwork, complaining because many of them are just living with them,” Goldstein said. “If you walk around congested very early in life, you don’t realize what it means to feel normal.”

Or many people may simply think that they’re getting a cold — over and over and over again, said Tonya Winders, president and chief executive officer of the Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics, based in Virginia.

“The most confusing aspect of telling the difference is that the symptoms are so similar,” Winders said.

Airborne allergies and common colds both can produce coughs, sneezing, a stuffy nose and a runny nose, she said.

But there are a few differences.

A cold should last less than 7 to 10 days, while seasonal allergies tend to last through the entire season. The allergy usually will start at the onset of the season, while the cold could begin at any time, Winders said.

Other ways to tell them apart would be that a cold may start with a sore throat and may be accompanied by a low-grade fever or body aches, while recurrent “colds” that aren’t associated with a fever would be allergies, said Dr. Cristina Porch-Curren, allergist with Coastal Allergy Care in California.

Itchy eyes or an itchy nose — or both — also would be hints that the ailment actually may be an allergy, said Dr. Timothy Craig, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Penn State University College of Medicine.

“Thus seasonal distribution, sneezing and itchy eyes often point toward allergies,” Craig said.

Winders suggests seeing a primary care physician who can point you in the right direction.

By using this site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.

» Accept
» Learn More