Spring is definitely here according to my family’s spring seasonal allergies. Everyone in my home has seasonal allergies to varying degrees. Usually, Sean and I will start feeling the symptoms first followed by Reggie and Michael a week or so later. These past few days, Reggie and Sean have been feeling sick. It was just their allergies starting to act up. They started taking allergy medicine and are starting to feel a bit better.
Post updated from 4/2018
Anyway, I want to share these 3 tips regarding how to distinguish allergies from colds since I find these seasonal reminders helpful for my entire family. It can sometimes be challenging to distinguish allergies from colds when the weather shifts. Fortunately, due to my parenting blogging work, I have had the opportunity to speak with some of the top pediatric and adult allergists in the country. Below are three tips that I have picked up regarding how to tell the difference between colds and allergies:
1. The average cold lasts 3 – 14 days while allergies last days to months.
2. Although the nose can run with both colds and allergies, there is a difference. With allergies, the mucus color is different. I know that this topic is gross, but this is the tip that helps me (and that I share!) the most. When the mucus is clear and constant, it is usually allergies. With colds, the mucus tends to be a little thicker with a yellow to a greenish color.
3. Allergies are genetic. Parents who have allergies have a greater chance of passing them on to their children. (My husband and I both have seasonal allergies so it’s not a huge surprise that both of our sons do also. Sorry kids!)
I hope that these tips help. (I also hope that this allergy season isn’t too miserable for your family!)
