Are my symptoms allergies or something else?

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[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Are my symptoms allergies or something else?]

[Text on screen: 
Christopher Brooks, MD
Allergy and Immunology Physician
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center]

Christopher Brooks, MD: There are a lot of symptoms that people attribute to allergies, but actually are caused by something else. So you can still see an allergist. We're trained in knowing things other than allergies too, that can look like allergy symptoms. There can be structural issues in the nose, and those can look a lot like allergies. 

So one of the advantages at Ohio State is allergy and immunology is within the ear, nose, and throat department, so we work very closely with our ear, nose, and throat doctors, and we can send our patients to those ear, nose, and throat doctors for those structural evaluations. 

Also, sometimes reflux. Heartburn can actually cause symptoms that look very much like allergies, especially when it looks like postnasal drip. Where we see the biggest difference in symptoms between the common cold and allergies is itching. If you have a lot of itching in your nose or itching in your eyes, it's probably a lot more likely to be allergies causing the symptoms.

[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
For more information, visit: wexnermedical.osu.edu/allergy]

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