Is It Strep Or Allergies

How Can You Prevent Spreading Or Catching Strep Throat

Maintaining good hygiene is the best way to prevent and catch strep throat. Detecting strep throat quickly is crucial to preventing its spread, which can occur through talking, sneezing, or sharing food. Here are some ways you can prevent spreading strep throat:

• Keep your hands clean at all times.
• When coughing or sneezing, cover your mouth and nose.
• Do not share utensils, a glass, or a plate.
• Stay home from work, school, or daycare until you no longer have a fever and have taken antibiotics for at least 12 hours.

What Are Other Reasons For Sore Throat

Weve already common reasons for sore throats, including the flu, common cold, and strep. If none of these match how you are feeling, other reasons you may be having a sore throat include:

• Overusing your voice
• Smoking or secondhand smoke exposure

Avoiding these triggers is the best way to resolve your sore throat.

What Is Sore Throat

Sore throat is persistent discomfort in the throat that may get worse when swallowing. This discomfort can either be a dull pain, scratchiness, or harsh irritation, depending on the cause.

Sore throat has many causes, including seasonal and chronic allergies. In some cases, an allergy-related sore throat may warrant immediate medical attention. Seek immediate assistance if your sore throat:

• Rapidly worsens
• Feels like your throat is closing
• Is making it hard to breathe
• If it persists for more than a few days

Don’t Miss: Where Did Peanut Allergies Come From

When To Seek Medical Help

Postnasal drip can be annoying, but it usually isn’t dangerous, as Harvard Medical School explains. However, there are some circumstances when you should seek medical help. See your doctor or dentist if your symptoms get worse or if they aren’t relieved by home remedies. You should also see your doctor if your sore throat is accompanied by other worrying symptoms, such as an unexplained fever or bloody mucus.

Allergy season has arrived, and while you may experience a sore throat from allergies, rest assured that there are many home remedies that can help to soothe your symptoms. If these home remedies aren’t enough, don’t hesitate to seek medical advice.

How Can You Tell If Your Sore Throat Is From Allergiesor Something Else

Sore throat, especially during the winter months, can also signal a cold or a virus, making it hard to tell what you’re dealing with. It can be difficult to differentiate between a cold and allergies, but the best way to differentiate between the two would be length of symptoms and past history of allergies, Dr. Li says.

“Both allergies and the seasonal cold can cause runny nose, stuffy nose, sneezing, watery eyes and cough,” he says. “However, cold symptoms typically last only a few days while allergy symptoms will often last several weeks to months.”

Allergy symptoms also typically flare up during the spring, summer and fall seasons, while colds usually come during the winter times, Dr. Li says. Allergy symptoms are also more responsive to oral antihistamine and nasal steroids while cold symptoms typically are more resistant to these types of treatments. Lastly, colds or viruses that can cause sore throat will usually will present with more fevers and body aches than allergies will.

Certain symptoms, such as runny nose or itchy, watery eyes, are more common with allergies than a cold, Dr. Simpson adds. If you’re also experiencing aches and pains or a fever, you most likely have a cold or virus. Thick yellow mucus is often more typical of a cold or virus.

Also Check: How Do Allergy Injections Reduce Symptoms

What Are Your Symptoms

Both allergies and colds may cause a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, a cough, and fatigue. Itchy eyes, post-nasal drip, and dark circles under your eyes are more common with allergies. Symptoms more commonly caused by a virus include sore throat, cloudy or discolored nasal discharge, fever, and general aches and pains.

Who Is More Likely To Get Strep Throat

Strep throat is more common in children than in adults. Children between the ages of 5 and 15 are most likely to develop strep throat, and children younger than 3 are less likely to contract it. The risk of strep throat increases for parents with school-aged children, teachers, and daycare workers.

People close to someone with strep throat are more likely to contract it. Schools, daycares, and assisted living facilities are crowded places where infections can spread. The winter and early spring are the most common times for strep throat t occur.

You May Like: Are Allergy Skin Tests Reliable

How To Tell If Its An Infection Or Allergies

There are a few ways to distinguish between seasonal allergy reactions and an infection.

In some cases, seasonal allergies may lead to a sinus infection or allergic rhinitis, which has symptoms similar to the common cold.

Some differences between seasonal allergies and an infection include:

• Seasonal allergies: May include symptoms like sore throat, congestion, sneezing, and headache. Red, itchy, irritated eyes are also common symptoms associated with seasonal allergies.

• Infection: If your symptoms include a fever, it is an infection. Seasonal allergies never cause fevers, though they may increase the chance of developing a sinus infection.

If your symptoms are confusing, and you cant tell if its allergies or a sinus infection, the flu, a cold, or COVID-19, contact your healthcare provider.

They can run basic tests to rule out influenza, COVID-19, and other types of bacterial infections.

What’s The Difference Between A Cold Strep Throat And Tonsillitis

A sore throat is often the first sign of a cold. However, a sore throat from a cold often gets better or goes away after the first day or two. Other cold symptoms such as a runny nose and congestion may follow the sore throat.

Strep throat, which is an infection due to streptococcus bacteria, is another cause of sore throats and tonsillitis. With strep throat, the sore throat is often more severe and persists.

Tonsillitis is a painful inflammation or infection of the tonsils, the tissue masses located at the back of the throat.

You May Like: How To Prevent Red Eyes From Allergies

What Is The Treatment For Strep Throat

Strep throat is treated using antibiotics, which kill the bacteria causing the infection. Antibiotics are often taken as pills or given as a shot. Penicillin and amoxicillin are common antibiotics used to treat strep throat. Other antibiotics are prescribed for people who are allergic to penicillin.

Follow your healthcare provider’s instructions for antibiotic use. Take all of the medication, even if you feel better. You should feel better within a day or two. A person with strep throat should stay home until 24 hours after starting the antibiotic.

Are You Treating Multiple Symptoms

For a cold, get extra rest and drink plenty of fluids, including water, tea, or soup with lots of broth. For allergies, it can help to shower and change your clothes often because allergens cling to skin, hair, and clothing. For both colds and allergies, over-the-counter antihistamines, decongestants, and pain relievers may help you feel better, although they wont make a cold go away any faster. And no matter what ails you, avoid medications that treat multiple symptoms, especially if you dont have some of the symptoms the medication is meant to treat.

If home treatments arent working and you still dont feel well, connect with our Consulting Nurse Service.

You May Like: Are Food Allergy Tests Reliable

Sore Throat = Strep Throat Or Does It

If you are wondering whether your painful sore throat is from a cold, allergies or strep here is help with how to tell the difference.

Sore throats can be caused by viruses or bacteria. The most common cause of sore throats are viruses. Viral sore throats are often accompanied by other cold symptoms that may include a runny nose, cough, red or watery eyes and sneezing. Other causes of sore throats include smoking, pollution or irritants in the air, allergies and dry air.

A sore throat is often the first sign of a cold or allergy congestion. Often a sore throat from a cold will get better or go away after the first two or three days.

Strep throat, which is an infection due to streptococcus bacteria, is another cause of a sore throat. With strep throat the soreness in the throat is often more severe and persists. In general the common symptoms of strep throat include a sore throat, fever, red and inflamed throat and swollen or tender lymph nodes on the sides of the upper neck.

People with strep throat can experience other associated symptoms including headache, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting, and a loss of appetite.

Remember, if you have sore throat pain and have concern about a cold or strep throat follow up with your healthcare provider today.

When Its A Sore Throat

When its a sore throat caused by a cold virus, you will often have other cold symptoms that may include:

• Red or watery eyes.

You do not have a cough with strep. If youre coughing, that typically means no strep, says Daniel Allan, MD. Also, when you look in the throat of a person with a sore throat caused by a cold virus, you typically do not see pus or exudate in the back of the throat.

Colds usually take several days to develop and typically go away on their own within five to seven days, Dr. Allan says.

There is no cure for a sore throat caused by a cold virus, but you can do things to make yourself feel more comfortable: Drinking warm liquids, gargling with warm salt water, sucking on ice chips, or taking an over-the-counter medicine can provide relief for your symptoms.

You also can speed your recovery by getting enough rest, eating a healthy diet and drinking plenty of fluids.

Don’t Miss: How To Fix Allergy Fatigue

How Can You Tell A Cold From Allergies

This can be challenging, Dr. Wada says. Still, there are a few signs that you might be dealing with one vs. the other.

Typically, allergies will last longerweeks to monthswhereas colds will last one to two weeks, Dr. Wada says. Colds also tend to have more body symptoms like muscle aches and even a fever, Dr. Parikh says. And, unless you develop an infection related to your allergies, you shouldnt get a fever from allergies.

Do Allergies Cause A Sore Throat

Yes, allergies can impact your throat. To understand why, you have to know why allergies happen in the first place: If youre allergic to something, your body sees proteins in that substance as a foreign invader. And when those proteins get into your systemsay, by breathing in a whiff of dust or getting pollen blown into your eyesyour immune system launches an inflammatory response in an attempt to protect you.

Related Stories

• FAQ: Is It COVID, the Flu, or Allergies?

Part of that inflammatory response involves producing lots of extra mucus. The mucus helps propel the debris out of your body, but it can give you congestion and a runny nose, which drains into your throat. The ears, nose, and throat are all physically connected, so problems in one area can affect another, explains William Reisacher, M.D., director of allergy services at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.

As a result, that mucus can cause post-nasal drip, when the goopy stuff dribbles down the back of your throat and makes it feel raw and irritated. Allergens can also trigger the tissues in the back of your throat to become inflamed, which only adds to the discomfort, Dr. Mehdizadeh says.

You May Like: Do Food Allergies Cause Stomach Pain

When Did You Begin To Feel Unwell

If you remember being around someone who had an upper respiratory infection a few days before you started feeling ill, you may have caught a viral infection. Viruses are spread by contact with sneezes, coughs, and contaminated surfaces such as door handles. Allergies, on the other hand, can begin immediately after coming in contact with triggers such as pollen. If you think you might be experiencing a seasonal allergy, check the pollen count in your area if levels are high, allergies may be the culprit.

Remedies For A Sore Throat Caused By Allergies

Allergens cant always be avoided, and sometimes youll end up with a sore throat after exposure. Fortunately, there are home remedies you can try to soothe a sore throat caused by allergies:

• Stay hydrated. Keeping yourself well-hydrated can help thin out excess mucus.
• Drink hot liquids. Tea with honey and soup broths may soothe a sore throat.
• Use a humidifier. Keep a humidifier running in your home. You may wish to add essential oils for their potential therapeutic benefits. One study found that lavender essential oil prevents allergy-related inflammation and mucus production.
• Keep your head elevated. If your allergy-related sore throat and congestion are keeping you up at night, try propping your head up with extra pillows to prevent mucus from collecting in the back of your throat.
• Over-the-counter medications. There are many allergy medications available OTC, including antihistamines and decongestants. These are available in nasal spray, capsule, and liquid forms. Talk with your doctor about the most appropriate medication for your symptoms.
• Gargle with saltwater. Add ¼ to 12 teaspoon of salt in 8 ounces of warm water to gargle as needed. This may reduce inflammation and swelling and remove mucus to relieve your sore throat.
• Throat lozenges. Sucking on soothing lozenges can provide fast relief from allergy-related sore throats caused by excess mucus and coughing.

You May Like: How To Soothe Flea Allergy Dermatitis

Is My Sore Throat From A Strep Throat Infection

Strep throat infections are usually characterized by redness, white patches, or pus on the back of your throat or tonsils. You might also have some swollen and tender lymph nodes in your neck, pain when swallowing, and even a fever. The best way to confirm whether you have strep throat is to have your doctor conduct an in-person test that involves a quick throat swab that can be rapid-tested in the office or sent to a lab for analysis.

What To Do If You Think Your Child Has Strep Throat

If you notice these symptoms and think your child has strep throat, once again, theres no need to rush to an emergency room.

You may not need to schedule a doctors visit with your childs pediatrician, either.

Strep throat is painful, and your child may have to wait hours or even days to see a primary care physician or pediatrician.

Instead, an urgent care facility is the perfect place to turn. Places like GoHealth Urgent Care frequently test and treat strep throat, especially in young children. We can also refer an ear, nose, and throat specialist is something to think about, should the problem persist.

When you visit our urgent care center, there is no need to schedule an appointment and your wait time will be short

Another tip to remember is this: strep throat is very contagious, so make sure your child stays home from school or other responsibilities after a strep diagnosis. After 24 hours of antibiotics, the infection will no longer be contagious.

You May Like: Can Allergies Cause Loss Of Taste

Is It Allergies Or A Cold

Cold and allergy symptoms often overlap, so its easy to mistake cold symptoms for allergies, and vice versa. Understanding the cause of your symptoms helps you choose the right treatment. It also gives you a better picture of your overall health.

Clinicians use the 5 factors below to help distinguish between colds and allergies.

Can Medications Relieve Symptoms Of A Sore Throat With A Cold

Over-the-counter cold medications may relieve cold and sore throat symptoms. However, the benefits of these drugs are minimal. Some cold medications include:

• Pain relievers, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen and naproxen, to relieve the aches and pains of a cold and sore throat.
• Sore throat sprays and lozenges to soothe your throat and numb the throat pain temporarily.
• nasal sprays to relieve a sore throat caused by postnasal drip — nasal drainage that runs down your throat.

Antibiotics should not be used to treat a cold virus and sore throat. Antibiotics are effective only against bacteria. They will not work on sore throats associated with colds, which are caused by viruses.

You May Like: What Is The Medicine For Skin Allergy

Medications For Seasonal Allergies

If OTC medications for seasonal allergies do not provide relief, a medical provider can prescribe nasal sprays, allergy shots, or other prescriptions that may be more effective.

See your doctor if allergy symptoms are making it challenging to function, or if you have a sore throat that worsens or does not improve.

Allergy Sore Throat Treatment

So, you have a sore throat, cough, runny nose and congestion. Have you caught a common cold or do you have allergy symptoms? Sometimes, it is even difficult for doctors to distinguish between the two, because their symptoms can be so similar. If you have persistent throat discomfort accompanied by other allergy symptoms, consider that you may have a sore throat due to allergies.

You May Like: What Plants Cause The Most Allergies

Does Strep Throat Require Medication

The answer is no, not always. Strep throat can go away on its own. Strep throat is self-limiting, which means a condition can heal without intervention. Strep throat usually lasts a few days but can last up to 10 days.

Doctors may prescribe antibiotics such as amoxicillin if they find you have strep A. Antibiotics are recommended because they speed up the healing process. You may also use a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory such as Advil to reduce pain, according to the American Association of Family Physicians .

You should feel better within a day or two after taking your antibiotic. Taking antibiotics for strep throat has the following benefits:

• Getting better faster
• Feeling better and reducing symptoms
• Avoiding the spread of the bacteria
• Preventing rheumatic fever