A runny nose, watery eyes, congestion, and sneezing, are symptoms of both the common cold and seasonal allergies. As spring approaches, how can you tell the difference? It’s important to be able to, since effective treatment differs for each condition.
At One Health Medical Care in Reston, Virginia, Dr. Mingliarti Tjahjana and our caring team can not only help you discern whether you’re suffering from allergies or a cold, we can also offer effective treatment solutions for each condition, as well.
If you’re noticing the classic signs of the common cold — which also can be attributed to allergies — we’re your one-stop shop for helping you figure out what’s going on.
First, let’s define each condition and go over the overlapping symptoms.
Contagious viruses cause cold infections, which are spread through close contact with an infected person when they sneeze or cough. You can also contract a cold by touching someone with a cold or coming into contact with a surface that’s contaminated. As your immune system battles the infection, your symptoms eventually abate.
Allergies, on the other hand, linger, and are caused by environmental factors like grass and tree pollen, mold, animal dander, and dust.
Colds and allergies can both cause:
After reviewing this list, it’s easy to see why you’re likely to feel confused about the cause of these symptoms. Here are five clues you can investigate to help you decide whether you need to nurse your cold or address your allergy:
Are you suffering from symptoms mainly during the winter? If so, you’re more likely to have a cold, whereas allergies to pollen are more likely to crop up in the spring, summer, and fall.
For example, if you’re allergic to ragweed, you typically experience symptoms in the late summer until the first frost, when the plants die.
Were you recently in contact with someone who had a cold? If so, you could be infected (but it takes a few days for symptoms to emerge after contraction).
With allergies, if you come into contact with your trigger, whether it’s a plant, animal, or food, symptoms manifest almost immediately.
If one of your symptoms is body aches, this is typical of colds — but not allergies.
Allergies can cause what we term “allergic shiners,” where your undereye area darkens. This occurs because of nasal and sinus congestion, and doesn’t happen with colds.
Allergies tend to persist for the duration of exposure to allergens, while colds resolve after a period of time. Colds last, on average, about 10 days to two weeks, while allergy symptoms tend to “hang on” for the season, whether throughout spring or summer-into-fall.
Treating the common cold involves getting plenty of rest and staying well-hydrated — think lots of water and chicken soup or broth. Over-the-counter pain relievers can help ease a sore throat or muscle aches, while nasal sprays and rinses can address a stuffy or runny nose.
At One Health Medical Care, we treat allergies in several ways, depending on what’s triggering them. For seasonal allergies, over-the-counter allergy medications may do the trick, and nasal saline rinses and steroid sprays can help, too. Allergy shots can deliver lasting relief for certain cases.
We provide education about how to avoid your allergy triggers so you can curb your symptom outbreaks. It can help to stay inside when pollen levels are at their highest, change clothes and shower to get pollen off of you after you’ve been outside, and invest in air purifiers with high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters to clear pollen out of your home.
Now that you know how to tell the difference between an annoying cold or a seasonal allergy, you can soothe your symptoms or seek treatment with confidence. Call 571-572-9198 to reach One Health Medical Care in Reston, Virginia, today, or use our online booking feature to schedule a visit at your convenience.
