Chest congestion, stuffy nose and sneezes- while your kid is suffering from these problems, you need to determine whether these problems are caused by allergies or by cold, before starting the treatment.
We are saying this because common cold and allergies can show similar signs and symptoms, including cough, congestion, runny nose and watery eyes but unfortunately the treatment and medications for both of the diseases are different.
So it’s very important for the parents to know about the root cause of the problem, however it’s really difficult to know whether the kid is fighting with a virus or suffering from allergic reaction.
Tips To Determine An Allergic Reaction
Basically, cold and cough happens due to virus and it runs its course. Although some of the medications can help to fight with the symptoms but even then cold normally stick around for minimum seven days.
On the contrary allergies keep on continuing until and unless the affected kid is taken away from the substance that caused the allergic reaction. Below is a check list that can help you to determine if your kid is suffering from allergy or cold.
- Observe the duration of your kid’s cold symptoms. Whether the problems are lingering for more than 15 days.
- Is your kid suffering from a chronic cough?
- Is the mucus clear? The mucus should not be green or yellow.
- If your kid is having a stuffy nose and trying to breathe through his/her mouth?
- Have the eyes of your kid turned red and itchy?
- Does you kid have developed dark circles under eyes?
If your child is even showing a single symptom or more than one symptom among the above mentioned ones, then your kid is likely to have an allergy.
What Are The Common Allergens?
There are few allergens those are almost common to most of the kids. These allergens include food, medications, mold, pet dander, pollen and dust.
Depending on the kind of allergies, our kid can have skin irritations, respiratory symptoms or sometimes stomach ailments. Nasal allergies can turn your child towards the likeliness of having sinus and ear infections, and asthma as well.
In case, if you don’t succeed to determine whether your kid is having an allergy, then you need to consult a physician immediately. There are several tests available to know about the allergens. You need to remember that the sensitivity to a particular allergen is subject to change with time.
