Recurring sneezing, congestion, itchy or watery eyes, or symptoms that seem tied to seasons, pets or other exposures can leave parents wondering whether allergies are the cause.
Our pediatric team can evaluate common allergy concerns, look at when and where symptoms occur, and discuss treatment or next steps based on your child’s age, symptoms and history.
When the picture is unclear or more specialized evaluation may help, your pediatrician can discuss whether referral to a pediatric allergist is appropriate.
Start With Your Pediatrician
Common childhood allergy concerns can often begin with your regular pediatric team.
Understand the Pattern
When, where and how symptoms occur can provide important clues.
Guidance for Next Steps
Treatment, follow-up or specialist referral can be considered when appropriate.
Allergies happen when the immune system reacts to substances that are normally harmless. Depending on the trigger, children can experience symptoms involving the nose, eyes, skin or breathing.
For children with allergic rhinitis, common symptoms can include sneezing, a runny or stuffy nose, itchy nose, and red, watery or itchy eyes. Symptoms may appear during certain seasons or occur throughout the year.
Because colds and allergies can sometimes look similar, the pattern matters. Allergies tend to last longer, commonly cause itching and watery eyes, and generally do not cause fever or body aches.
Repeated sneezing and clear nasal drainage may occur with nasal allergies.
Red, watery or itchy eyes commonly occur alongside seasonal allergies.
Swelling inside the nose can cause stuffiness and may interfere with sleep.
Symptoms that return during the same season, around certain animals or in particular environments may provide useful clues about possible triggers.
Not every child with allergy symptoms needs specialized testing. For many common nasal allergies, the symptom history and pattern may provide enough information to begin discussing treatment. If the trigger is uncertain or symptoms are more complicated, additional evaluation or referral may be appropriate.
Your provider will want to understand what symptoms your child has and how long they have been occurring.
Does it happen every spring? Around a pet? At home but not school? These patterns can help provide context.
Families may discuss exposure to pollen, dust mites, mold, animals or other potential allergens.
Asthma, eczema, previous allergic reactions and other health history may be relevant to the conversation.
Your pediatrician can examine your child and consider whether the findings fit an allergic condition or whether another explanation needs to be considered.
Depending on the findings, your provider may recommend treatment, monitoring, additional evaluation or referral to a pediatric allergist.
Some children seem perfectly comfortable for most of the year and then start sneezing as soon as pollen season arrives. Others have symptoms that never seem to disappear completely.
Seasonal allergic rhinitis is commonly triggered by outdoor allergens such as tree, grass and weed pollen or mold spores.
Perennial—or year-round—allergic rhinitis may be associated with triggers encountered throughout the year, including dust mites, indoor mold, furry animals and cockroaches.
Understanding when symptoms occur can help your pediatric provider determine what may be worth addressing.
When a likely trigger can be identified, reducing exposure may help decrease symptoms.
For pollen-related allergies, strategies may include keeping windows closed during peak pollen seasons, monitoring pollen levels and reducing the amount of outdoor pollen brought into living spaces.
The right approach depends on what appears to be triggering your child’s symptoms.
Depending on your child’s age and symptoms, a pediatric provider may discuss options such as antihistamines, saline nasal treatments or nasal corticosteroid sprays.
Because different products have different age recommendations and side effects, families should discuss the appropriate medication and dose with their child’s healthcare provider rather than assuming every over-the-counter allergy medicine is suitable.
If symptoms continue despite appropriate treatment, repeatedly interfere with sleep, school or activities, or the diagnosis is uncertain, further evaluation may be useful.
Your pediatrician can review what has been tried and decide whether the care plan should change or specialist input may be helpful.
Allergies may sound minor, but persistent symptoms can have a real effect on how children feel throughout the day.
Nasal congestion can interfere with sleep, and poor sleep can contribute to low energy and difficulty concentrating. Persistent allergy symptoms can also make school, sports and other activities less comfortable.
That is one reason it is worth discussing recurring symptoms rather than assuming your child simply has to “live with allergies.”
Nasal congestion can make sleeping comfortably more difficult.
Persistent symptoms and poor sleep can affect concentration and energy.
Outdoor allergens or breathing symptoms may make certain activities more difficult.
Good allergy management should help children participate more comfortably in normal life.
Allergies and asthma can occur together in children. A child with nasal allergies may also have coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath, but breathing symptoms can have more than one cause.
Recurring wheezing, coughing with activity, nighttime cough or shortness of breath are reasons to talk with your child’s pediatrician. Your provider can look at the full symptom pattern and decide whether asthma evaluation or another next step is appropriate.
Many common allergy concerns begin with a pediatrician.
A pediatric allergist/immunologist has additional specialty training in diagnosing and managing allergic and immune conditions and can provide specialized services such as allergy testing and other advanced evaluations when they are needed.
Referral may be considered when:
Symptoms do not clearly point to a specific allergy or another condition needs to be considered.
Significant food, medication, insect-sting, recurrent hives or other complex allergy histories may benefit from specialty evaluation.
Testing may sometimes help identify specific triggers when the cause is uncertain.
Your child continues to struggle despite a reasonable treatment plan.
The most useful information is often not a single test result—it is the story of when, where and how your child’s symptoms happen.
Bring or be ready to discuss:
If your child had a previous significant allergic reaction, bring any records or information you have about what happened and what treatment was required.
Routine allergy symptoms are very different from anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that can become life-threatening. Warning signs can include difficulty breathing, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, fainting or dizziness, or symptoms affecting more than one part of the body.
If your child is having significant trouble breathing, swelling of the mouth or throat, fainting, or another suspected severe allergic reaction, call 911 and seek emergency care. If your child has prescribed epinephrine for a known severe allergy, follow the child’s emergency plan and use it as directed.
Sneezing, recurring nasal congestion, itchy eyes and other non-emergency allergy concerns can be discussed with your pediatric office.
Common nasal allergy symptoms include sneezing, clear runny nose, stuffiness, itchy nose and red, watery or itchy eyes. Symptoms may occur seasonally or throughout the year.
The two can overlap, but allergies commonly cause itching and watery eyes and can continue for weeks or months. Colds more commonly cause symptoms such as body aches or fever and usually resolve within a shorter period.
Common seasonal triggers include pollen from trees, grasses and weeds as well as outdoor mold spores. The timing can vary depending on the allergen and season.
Year-round nasal allergies may be associated with triggers such as dust mites, mold, furry animals and cockroaches.
Not necessarily. Some common allergies can be evaluated based on symptoms and their pattern. When the trigger is unclear or the condition is more complicated, testing or specialist referral may be useful.
Our pediatric team evaluates common allergy concerns and can discuss whether additional testing or referral to a pediatric allergist may be appropriate. If you have questions about a specific type of allergy testing, call your office before the visit.
Depending on age and symptoms, treatment may include reducing exposure to known triggers and using medicines such as antihistamines or nasal treatments under pediatric guidance.
Specialist evaluation may be useful when symptoms remain difficult to control, the diagnosis is uncertain, specialized testing is needed or the allergy concern is more complex.
They can be. Allergic conditions and asthma frequently occur together, so recurring wheezing, coughing or shortness of breath should be discussed with your child’s pediatrician.
Severe difficulty breathing, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, fainting, or other signs of a severe allergic reaction require immediate emergency care. If your child has been prescribed epinephrine for a known severe allergy, follow the child’s emergency plan and call 911.
The timing can provide useful clues.
Keep a simple note of when symptoms appear and share the pattern with your pediatrician.
If recurring sneezing, congestion, itchy eyes or other allergy symptoms are bothering your child, start the conversation with the pediatric office most convenient for your family.
With offices in Sylacauga, Chelsea, and Birmingham’s Valleydale area, families can choose the pediatric office most convenient for them. Select a location below to call, get directions, or view complete office information.
115 West Clay Street
Sylacauga, Alabama 35150
134 Foothills Parkway
Chelsea, Alabama 35043
1200 Providence Park, Suite 100
Birmingham, Alabama 35242
Providing compassionate comprehensive pediatric care for infants, children, and adolescents at three convenient locations in Alabama.
115 West Clay Street
Sylacauaga, Alabama 35150
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