Winter is slowly receding and in many places Spring has sprung, even though the official start date is more than a week away. With Spring weather comes blooming plants, trees, and shrubs, and with those lovely flowers comes pollen, the irritant that brings on hay fever. I lived for years in denial of my seasonal allergies and pretended that I had a cold . . . a cold that never ended.

I have wised up and since allergy season is upon us, or will be soon depending on where you live, I thought it might be useful to compare the symptoms of the common cold with those that accompany seasonal allergies.

• Itchy nose: Although allergies and colds both produce a runny nose and congestion, allergies create the dreaded itchy nose. The itch generally occurs in the back of the nose and is difficult to "scratch." Folks suffering from "nasal pruritus" (the fanciest way in the world to say itchy nose) often scrunch up their faces, like a bunny, to try to alleviate the itch.
• The sneeze: Sneezing frequently, and sometimes quietly, is common with allergies. Sneezes from colds tend to be loud, deep, and infrequent, attempting to clear the bronchial congestion down in the lungs. Allergy sneezes, on the other hand, are an attempt to remove allergens from the nose.

Unfortunately, the list of symptoms is a bit longer, so read more.

• Runny eyes: While eyes might occasionally water with a cold, they will run profusely with allergies.
• Mucus color: Mucus, aka snot, is generally clear with allergies, whereas with a cold it tends to have a color — yellow to green.
• Dark circles under the eyes: This symptom is sometimes referred to poetically as the "allergy shiner." These "shiners" are caused by the inability of veins in the area to drain due to chronic nasal congestion. It is like a traffic jam in your infraorbital area. Common colds do not cause these.

If you are living in allergy denial, hopefully this list will help you figure out that you do indeed have hay fever, and need to leave the weeding and lawn mowing to someone else for now.

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