Is It a Cold or Allergies?

"The law of heredity is that all undesirable traits come from the other parent."  Anonymous

That is how it is with allergies!  Isn't it?  Here is some information about allergies that may be helpful with your little ones (maybe even with your big ones!)  All this information is taken from Toddler 411 by Denise Fields and Ari Brown, MD.

Allergic disorders are the body's hypersensitivity after being exposed to certain foreign substances.  The body's response can be localized to one body part or generalized to more body parts.  Allergies may be hereditary.  Often a person is not allergic to just one thing.  A baby with eczema has a 30% chance of developing asthma or other allergies.  However, hereditary patterns of allergies do not apply to drug allergies.  If you are allergic to penicillin does not mean your child will be.

If your child has a constant runny nose, that is not an indication of allergies.  Usually the cause of a toddler's runny nose is a viral infection.  Toddlers will have about 60 to 80 days of runny noses a year due to viruses.  However, some children do have chronic runny noses for reasons besides infection.  Allergic rhinitis is the fancy term for runny nose due to allergies.  Allergies to certain particles in the air can irritate the nose and lungs of some children.  These irritants can be in the air year round (dust, mold, pet dander) or just seasonally.  The peak age for seasonal allergies is school-age and and young adulthood.  A two year old is less likely than an eight year old to have a runny nose caused by seasonal allergies.

Here is a table comparing symptoms of a cold and allergies:

                              Common Cold                                     Allergies
Snot                      thick, clear, white or discolored         watery, clear
Cough                   dry or wet                                             dry
Eyes                      no problem                                          can be itchy, watery
Nose                     snotty                                                    itchy
Throat                   sore                                                      scratchy
Fever                    some or none                                      none

Doctors have some additional strategies to identify allergies in children:

• The allergic salute is a horizontal line along the nose due to a child constantly pushing the tip of his nose upwards to wipe the snot
• Allergic shiners are dark, puffy circles under the eyes due to chronically irritated and swollen blood vessels
• Cobblestoning, a bumpy appearance at the back of the throat, is from chronic postnasal drip 
• Occasionally the nostrils will have a bluish, boggy appearance but this is not as common as the other identifying cues.

Allergies can be a trigger for asthma, so if your child experiences asthma, you may want to see an allergist.  Also, allergies can lead to a sinus infection.  If your child's chronically clear runny nose has changed, or he has a fever or headache, see your doctor.