• Allergies
• Allergies, Asthma, and Lung
• Health Topics

How Can I Tell If My Child Has Seasonal Allergies?

You child’s allergy symptoms may be much like cold symptoms: Runny nose, clear drainage, sneezing, itchy eyes or throat. If it's a cold, your child may feel sick and not have much energy. But with allergies, he or she may feel fine except for the itchy eyes and runny nose.

You may also be able to tell if it’s allergies from dark circles under the eyes (called allergic shiners) or a crease on the nose from frequent rubbing (known as allergic salute). If your child has symptoms that last a long time – or that go away for a few days and then return – it could be allergies instead of a cold. Parents play a role, too. If one parent has allergies, your child has about a 50 percent chance of having allergies. If both parents have allergies, there’s about a 75 percent chance your child will, too.

What Can Make Allergies Worse

• Cigarette smoke
• Smoke from wood stoves or fireplaces
• Perfume
• Aerosol sprays
• Car exhaust

Call Your Health Care Provider if Your Child has Any of These Symptoms:

• Trouble breathing
• Wheezing
• Frequent headaches
• Greenish or yellowish drainage from the nose 

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Learn more:

• Children’s allergies
• How to control your child’s allergy triggers
• Allergy-related problems
• Could your child have a sinus infection (sinusitis)?

Source: Anne Reitz, MD, Centerville Family Medicine; American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology

Anne C. Reitz, MD

Centerville Family Medicine

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