What’s the Difference Between Allergies, a Common Cold, and a Sinus Infection?

What’s the difference between allergies, a common cold, and a sinus infection? In this short video, Hao “Mimi” Tran, M.D., F.A.C.S., a board-certified otolaryngologist at the Ear, Nose, Throat & Plastic Surgery Associates, shares her insights and experience to this common patient question.
“The main difference is really the duration of symptoms and the type of symptoms,” says Dr. Tran. “Typically a cold will come on fairly quickly, it’ll peak out at one to three days, and patients will normally feel better in about five to seven days. Symptoms are characterized by a lot of nasal congestion, thick, discolored drainage, and maybe fever. But patients are usually better in five to seven days without antibiotic therapy.”
“When it comes to differentiating that from a bacterial sinus infection that might need antibiotics, it’s really about the duration,” Dr. Tran continues. “An infection will last ten days or more, and sometimes the symptoms will worsen over the course of five to seven days.”
A double worsening sign is where patients will feel like they’re getting better initially around day one or day two, then get worse, then get better again, only to get worse again. This normally indicates the presence of a bacterial infection that would need to be treated with antibiotics.
“Allergies have a very common symptom profile as well,” says Dr. Tran. “You don’t get the fever, the discolored mucus, or a cough. Allergies also have a well-known trigger - if you’ve been outdoors, around cats or other allergenic triggers.”
Allergies can last year-round depending if you’re allergic to dust mites or mold, but sometimes they can be more seasonal with trees, pollen, and grasses.
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