Cold vs Allergy Symptoms

There are few things more annoying than going through the day battling a runny nose, a sore throat, and general exhaustion. Feeling sick is one of the worst feelings because it can leave you completely drained and your entire day is spent drifting through a haze. Medicines can help, but only if you take the right ones. The wrong ones can do nothing to alleviate your symptoms, or even worse can leave you feeling drowsy and groggy and in poorer in condition than before. The first step toward knowing which medication will best relieve your symptoms is to correctly identify those symptoms. Many ailments present with the same symptoms, so it can be difficult to properly diagnose an ailment. The common cold and allergies both affect the nose and therefore it can be difficult to distinguish cold vs. allergy symptoms.

Although they may present the same symptoms, colds and allergies are two different things. Colds are caused by viruses and are contagious. A person with a healthy immune system can generally fight off a cold in a couple of weeks. Allergies, on the other hand, are caused when the immune system overreacts to a normally harmless particle. Allergies are not contagious and can persist as long as the allergen is present.

Nasal congestion is common to both colds and allergies, but can be slightly different with each ailment. When you catch a cold, you will typically feel a burning sensation in the nose and throat area. Your nose will be runny and sneezing is often loud and deep. When you are experiencing allergies, you will also have nasal congestion as the immune system releases chemicals to respond to the allergen. It is quite common for the nose to be itchy and sneezing is much more frequent than with a cold.

A symptom often associated with nasal congestion is mucus. If you are suffering from allergies, the discharge of mucus from your nose will be clear and constant. When you have a cold, however, the mucus will start out clear and as the cold progresses it will appear yellow or green. Green mucus is a sign that an infection might be present.

There are some symptoms that are much more common with a cold than with allergies. Those suffering from a cold frequently experience coughing and a sore throat. These symptoms rarely occur with allergies. Another symptom almost totally exclusive to a cold is a fever. Colds can leave you feeling feverish and achy, but this does not occur with allergies. One symptom that you will notice with allergies but not with a cold is watery and itchy eyes.