Your kids are sniffling and sneezing and feeling miserable.
Chances are, it's caused by the pollen floating around Atlanta. This pollen – from oak, hickory, pecan and other trees – can cause many children to suffer congestion, runny nose and sneezing as if they had a cold.
"As we all know in Atlanta, we start seeing the yellow covering everything — which is beautiful — but not so much for people who have allergies," Dr. Jennifer Shih said.
Shih is a pediatric allergist and immunologist for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and assistant professor of pediatrics and internal medicine for Emory University School of Medicine.
"Essentially, an allergy is an overreaction by your immune system by something that is not supposed to be harmful to you," Shih said.
Yet the symptoms of allergies and colds/flus can mimic each other, Shih said. How can parents tell the difference when their kids are feeling bad?
One of the hallmarks of allergies is itchiness in the nose and watery, itchy eyes, Shih said.
Both a cold and allergies can produce a sore throat, but it tends to be more severe with a virus; if allergies are the culprit, the child has more of a scratchy sore throat from postnasal drip.
Respiratory illnesses also tend to produce thicker mucus than allergies, and sometimes colored phlegm rather than clear mucus, Shih said.
If you child has a fever with the other symptoms, Shih said, it's not from allergies.
Still, allergies can cause the same amount of misery, and cause a child's grades to drop from fatigue and lack of sleep and concentration, she added.
Don't rule out allergies just because your child didn't previously have them, Shih warned.
Kids are born with the propensity to get allergies, but an allergy to any particular thing can develop any time, usually after age 2. If you or your spouse have allergies, your kids are much more likely to get them, too, Shih said.
Shih recommends an evaluation by a board-certified allergist, who can administer specialized tests, to determine if you child has allergies.
She starts many patients on their allergy medications – including shots, and both over-the-counter and prescription medications — in February, but you can seek help any time.
Chances are, kids have more than one allergy, and you can find out what the triggers are with testing, Shih said. Diagnostic procedures include plastic stick tests, blood work and intradermal testing.
Outside of medications and shots, home treatments for children's allergies can be as simple as covering mattresses and pillows, Shih said. And though the symptoms will be worse when kids are outside, with higher amounts of pollen in the air, keeping them inside is not a happy option.
You can minimize the effects of pollen by having your kids change clothes when they come inside and take a shower, Shih said. Also, if you let your pets outside, know that they will bring the pollen back inside with them.
Unfortunately, your child's allergies won't necessarily end when the spring pollen dies out, Shih said.
In summer, it's typically grass that causes allergies. Then, come fall, it's often weeds, like ragweed, causing trouble. So treatment may be a year-round thing for your kids.
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