During cold and flu season, one can pretty well bet on being congested and sneezing and possibly developing a runny nose when an illness is around the corner. But with all the blossom time or changing fall leaves, who knows when or if the patient has an actual cold?
Sometimes, figuring out the difference can be tricky since colds and allergies can make you cough or lead to a sore throat. However, other symptoms like fever and chest discomfort aren’t characteristic of allergies. Here’s what you need to know about the differences between allergies and colds
1. Your Mucus Is Clear
Both allergies and colds begin with watery mucus. However, the mucus with allergies will stay watery, while the mucus that comes with a cold will not. Usually, cold-related mucus will become cloudy or have a yellowish color.
2. Your Cough Is Dry
Both allergies and colds can cause a dry cough. However, there’s usually one telltale difference: If you happen to be living through the unpleasant scenario of coughing up mucus after having a dry cough, you probably have a cold.
“Even if the mucus is clear, you’re more likely in the cold arena,” Purvi Parikh, MD, an allergist and immunologist with Allergy & Asthma Network and Allergy & Asthma Associates of Murray Hill in New York City, told Health. “Usually allergies [exclusively] have a dry cough.”
3. Itching eyes and watery eyes
While you might notice some redness or discomfort around your eyes when you’re sick with a cold, allergies are known for itchy, watery eyes. Allergies may also cause some swelling around the eyes, added Dr. Parikh.
4. Your Symptoms Linger
Colds typically last about seven days.Allergy symptoms-again, particularly if you are repeatedly exposed to the allergens, as with seasonal allergies-can last for far longer time. You may have an allergy for weeks, in contrast to the duration of a cold.
If you can get away from the allergen causing your symptoms, you might feel almost instantly better. That won’t be the case if you have a cold.
5. You Observe a Seasonal Cycle
If you know you get the same cold every March, it may be time to rethink what the actual culprit is. “If you notice it’s seasonal like clockwork, and every spring or fall you get these symptoms, it might be allergy-related,” said Dr. Parikh. Colds also happen more often during the winter.
You may also experience symptoms a little bit before allergy season. For example, “Most people are surprised that the pollen begins to occur when there’s still snow in the Northeast, and, again, it is weather dependent whether or not to have allergy symptoms in February,” said David
Rosenstreich, MD, who is director of the division of allergy and immunology in the Department of Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
6. You Don’t Spike a Fever
Colds can cause fever, but fever is not an allergy symptom. See a healthcare provider if you find that you have symptoms of allergies but are experiencing fever.
7. You Can Get Out of Bed
Aches and pains can be associated with colds.While allergies can certainly make you feel tired and run down, colds (or the flu) are more likely to cause the aches and pains that send you straight to bed, said Dr. Parikh.
Treatment
Since the symptoms of colds and allergies are similar, some of their treatments will be. That means you might be using options like over-the-counter oral decongestants or nasal sprays.
If you’ve got a cold, or just some other kind of virus causing you body aches or fever, you’ll want to see if you can alleviate the discomfort and bring down your temperature using such medications as acetaminophen or aspirin, pointed out Dr. Metcalfe. If you suffer from asthma, you can be sure to reach for that inhaler as you treat symptoms like coughing and wheezing, potentially set off both by colds and allergies.
While plenty of rest may help you get over a cold, it won’t do much for allergies. However, be sure to drink plenty of fluids, no matter your issue. “Dehydration makes allergies and colds worse,” Dr. Parikh said. “Fluids help relieve congestion.”
Prevention
The best way to prevent colds is by washing your hands properly, which involves rubbing soap into wet hands for 20 seconds or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Another preventive measure is staying indoors when having a cold and not coughing or sneezing into the air.
It is not easy to prevent allergies as preventing colds. You can, however, avoid the allergens in your environment if possible, so you will not experience symptoms
