Dr. Francisco Pernas, Otolaryngologist with Baptist Health South Florida, explains the difference between an allergy and a cold. “There is a time difference. An allergy tends to be prolonged, it tends to last a lot more time. A cold tends to last a couple of weeks, you can get over it with some hydration.”

Regarding diagnosis, he says doctors can often tell right away that someone has allergies. “You do not need a test right away to diagnose allergies. Some people want to know what they have allergies to, and we can do blood test or skin test.”