With the spread of COVID-19, we’ve found a lot of people are coming to our clinics mistaking symptoms of seasonal allergies for those of COVID-19.
Are Your Symptoms Consistent with COVID or Seasonal Allergies?
The more common and sometimes severe symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Additional common symptoms are fatigue, body aches, and loss of appetite. Another COVID symptom is lack of taste or smell.
Less commonly, people may have diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Some people are asymptomatic, meaning they may not experience symptoms at all. After exposure, symptoms can take 2 to 14 days to appear.
The best way to determine if you have COVID-19 is to get tested. Contact your doctor or keep in mind that Advanced Urgent Care & Occupational Medicine offers curbside rapid COVID testing through our partnership with Rapid Testing LLC. Click here to learn more about COVID test differences. You can also speak with one of our providers during a telehealth or in-clinic visit to have your symptoms assessed and your questions answered.
Seasonal Allergy Symptoms vs COVID: Are Your Symptoms Consistent with Allergies?
According to the Mayo Clinic, seasonal allergies are immune system responses triggered by exposure to allergens, such as seasonal tree or grass pollens.
Two strong indicators that suggest allergies are if you’ve had springtime allergies before and if an itchy nose and eyes are a prominent components of your symptoms. People with allergies often have itchy eyes, itchy nose, and sneezing, as well as as a congested, runny nose and a sore throat or cough that is generally due to postnasal drip.
Have you found that taking medications such as over-the-counter antihistamines or steroid nasal sprays helpful in prior years? Then, it would be reassuring that if your symptoms improve with these medications, your symptoms may be due to seasonal allergies. As anyone with allergies can attest, allergies linger for months, so the timeline can often be a clue, too.
How can you be certain you have allergies? If you are unsure, we recommend a telehealth or in-clinic visit with an Advanced Urgent Care & Occupational Medicine provider.
Ease your Seasonal Allergy Symptoms
Here are a few tips provided by National Jewish Health to help ease your seasonal allergy symptoms:
- Avoid being outdoors on windy days, especially mid-morning to mid-afternoon, when pollen counts are often highest. If you must be out, cover your mouth with a scarf or an allergen mask.
- Keep car and home windows and doors closed, and avoid using electric fans inside the home, which can kick up pollen into the air.
- After returning from outdoors, shower, wash your hair and change your clothing.
- Make sure the area to be cleaned is well ventilated and use caution with household cleaning products. Never mix cleansers such as bleach, disinfectants, and deodorizers with ammonia products, either in the bucket or on the surface to be cleaned.
- It is best if non-allergic family members or others do the cleaning. Try to be out of the house during all cleaning, especially during carpet cleaning.
- Avoid being outside when fertilizers and pesticides are applied to the lawns, trees or shrubs in your neighborhood. If you garden, arrange for someone else to remove the leaves and branches that may have collected in your yard or hedges. This type of garbage usually has mold and other particles that can trigger your asthma.
If your symptoms are inconsistent with allergies and COVID-19, it is possible you are suffering from the flu or a common cold.
Advanced Urgent Care & Occupational Medicine is committed to treating patients with a variety of illnesses and injuries. If you believe you are suffering from a cold, flu, COVID-19, or seasonal allergies, we are here for you!
Walk-in, reserve your spot for an in-clinic visit, or schedule a telehealth visit online. Click here to see a list of all of our locations across Colorado’s Denver metro area.