By Markham Heid, Prevention
This time of year, when the temperature ticks up and the air is filled with pollen, it's natural to assume your runny nose, watery eyes, or sinus pressure are reactions to seasonal allergens. But some symptoms people mistake for run-of-the-mill allergies could actually be signs of other health issues—some of them quite serious.
Especially if your allergy medications aren't doing any good, and if you don’t notice the symptoms abating when you head indoors, you may want to reconsider your self-diagnoses, says Brett Comer, MD, a surgeon and assistant professor at the University of Kentucky.
Paying close attention to your symptoms can help you tell if you're dealing with something other than allergies. Here's what to watch out for:
This time of year, when the temperature ticks up and the air is filled with pollen, it's natural to assume your runny nose, watery eyes, or sinus pressure are reactions to seasonal allergens. But some symptoms people mistake for run-of-the-mill allergies could actually be signs of other health issues—some of them quite serious.
Especially if your allergy medications aren't doing any good, and if you don’t notice the symptoms abating when you head indoors, you may want to reconsider your self-diagnoses, says Brett Comer, MD, a surgeon and assistant professor at the University of Kentucky.
Paying close attention to your symptoms can help you tell if you're dealing with something other than allergies. Here's what to watch out for:
Clear fluid dripping from one nostril
"If a person has clear drainage from their nose that tends to be only on one side, and tends to happen more when they lean their head forward, that could indicate a cerebral spinal fluid leak," Comer says.
He says there's a thin plate that separates your sinuses from the parts of your brain where this cerebral spinal fluid flows. If a hole opens in that plate, the fluid can leak through. While the fluid drip in itself isn't dangerous, the hole that accounts for it could lead to a life-threatening brain infection.
"It's not that common, but in my world as a rhinologist, I think I saw 5 cases just last month," Comer says. "Some people come in and say they've had the dripping for more than a year and thought it was just allergies."
He says there's a thin plate that separates your sinuses from the parts of your brain where this cerebral spinal fluid flows. If a hole opens in that plate, the fluid can leak through. While the fluid drip in itself isn't dangerous, the hole that accounts for it could lead to a life-threatening brain infection.
"It's not that common, but in my world as a rhinologist, I think I saw 5 cases just last month," Comer says. "Some people come in and say they've had the dripping for more than a year and thought it was just allergies."
Green snot and cheek pain
If you have cheek pain—especially if the pain is on one side, in the sinus areas below your eyes, and accompanied by green snot—that's more likely an infection than some kind of allergy issue, Comer says. "The pain can also radiate up into the forehead and temple," he says. "What's happening is the maxillary sinus below your eye has become infected and blocked off."
You recently started on a new medication
"Some medications can cause symptoms that mimic allergies," says Janna Tuck, MD, a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. "Heart medications, and beta blockers in particular, can cause pretty serious congestion." She adds that birth control pills—as well as pregnancy—can cause nasal symptoms some might mistake for allergies.
Losing your sense of taste and smell
Allergy-related congestion usually won't lead to loss of taste and smell. "If you're experiencing that, it may be related to something structural like nasal polyps, which are small non-cancerous growths," says Sana Hasan, MD, an assistant professor of immunology, allergy, and rheumatology at Baylor College of Medicine. Apart from killing your sense of taste or smell, those polyps can cause congestion, and in some cases require surgery to remove, she says.
Another structural issue that can cause congestion is a deviated septum, or a misalignment of the bone and cartilage that separates your nostrils, Hasan says.
Another structural issue that can cause congestion is a deviated septum, or a misalignment of the bone and cartilage that separates your nostrils, Hasan says.
Pain or pressure in your face
Another condition that can cause cheek pain and discolored snot is something called allergic fungal sinusitis. "It's a fungal buildup in the sinuses," Comer explains. "It can seem like an infection, but it's from fungal particles getting into the sinuses where they can cause inflammation, which traps in more fungus, which promotes more inflammation—it's a vicious cycle." He says this condition is common in the South and places that are hot and humid all year. "You need surgery to clear out all that fungus and debris," he adds.
"People come in with chronic hives and think it's due to allergies," says Princess Ogbogu, MD, of Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center. "But usually if the hives last for more than 6 weeks, that's not from anything external like an allergy." She says chronic hives are more likely to do with your thyroid or some kind of immune system issue. See your physician.
