Should You Seek Help?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your symptoms are due to allergies or a cold. But when severe "cold" symptoms linger for more than a week or two, or when you regularly or seasonally suffer symptoms, allergies are probably to blame. Contact your doctor if you or anyone in your family regularly experiences some of the following:

• Persistent sneezing, along with a runny or stuffy nose
• Coughing and post-nasal drip
• Swelling, especially of the face, hands, throat, feet and genitals
• Itching eyes, nose or throat
• Dark circles under the eyes
• Persistent nose-rubbing
• Watering, red-rimmed, or swollen eyes; crusting eyelids
• Frequent nosebleeds
• Loss of taste or smell

People with allergies may develop a serious condition called asthma. In people with asthma, the air passages in the lungs narrow, making it difficult to breathe. If the symptoms of asthma—wheezing and shortness of breath—accompany allergy symptoms, seek prompt medical attention.

A medical visit to diagnose allergies usually includes an examination and a question-and-answer session with your doctor. An examination of your nose and throat will suggest allergy if those tissues appear pale and swollen. Your answers to the doctor's questions should narrow the field of possible allergens.

Allergy tests

To pinpoint particular allergens, the doctor may also recommend either skin tests or blood tests. Fast, inexpensive and reliable, skin tests use weakened allergens such as mold, pollens or dust. The doctor injects these substances under your skin or paints them over a scratch on your arm or back. Within about 15 minutes, each material to which you are allergic produces a raised red spot with a reddened area around it.

In place of a skin test, a doctor may suggest a blood test if a patient suffers from a skin disease, has recently taken antihistamines or has difficulty with the skin testing procedure. Blood testing for allergies involves examining a blood sample for specific antibodies. Compared to skin tests, though, blood tests are more costly and less accurate, and they take several days to process.