Do you remember when you were little and you seemed to get colds that lasted for a very long time? Every year, when I was growing up, I seemed to have a cold in the summer time that wouldn’t go away. Kids are usually too busy playing and having a good time to pay attention to cold symptoms; they just wipe their nose with their sleeve and continue playing. Moms are usually the ones who notice cold symptoms in their children. You know the kind of symptoms, runny nose, a little coughing, redness in the eyes, and maybe some complains about a headache or stuffiness. But, when a cold hangs on for more than a few days, in spite of the fact that you are taking all of the normal cold remedies, cough medicine, chicken soup, bed rest, etcetera, maybe it isn’t a cold, it could be allergies. The symptoms are so similar that it is difficult to tell one from the other. Our body seems to react similarly to both irritations. When a cold strikes, we jump to get rid of it, and it is done. When allergies strike, it may be bothersome to us for a season, or in the case of folks who live in the South, it may be year round because one allergy season seems to blend smoothly into the next, making it miserable all year long.

If your ailment is allergies then you need allergy medicine. Think of decongestants, antihistamines, and cough suppressants. Anything to make those symptoms disappear so we can function comfortably. In the extreme, a doctor visit may be advisable. He or she may have to give you a shot of medicine, or a series of injections, to counteract the effects of serious allergic reactions to pollens and other manmade pollutants. It is interesting to think of people who lived more than a hundred years ago. How did they deal with allergies? Certainly there were no allergy medicines that could have allayed their discomforts. (Imagine trying to attack the neighboring tribe with a bunch of sneezing warriors!)

Allergies are annoying but not necessarily a serious threat to our health (they could be, however). An allergic reaction indicates that the body is battling some foreign invader. Sometimes it can be a serious ailment that is entering the body, sometimes it is just filth in the air of a crowded city. Sometimes it is mold growing in our homes; we don’t even notice it. One way to judge the severity of an allergy is to notice how serious the symptoms are, and how much medicine you must consume to manage it. If severe symptoms require constant dosage (daily pills, for example) then it may be advisable to go to your physician to check it out. Follow your doctor’s advise (after all, why else would you pay a doctor to examine you if you are not going to listen to him or her?). If you can find the cause of your allergies it is very wise to try to eliminate them. Clean the house thoroughly, or stay away from parks that contain flowers or plants that make you sneeze. Try to take as few pharmaceuticals as possible; you want your body to take care of invaders with a strong immune system, not pills.