Standard symptoms in this case include: sore throat, runny nose, facial swelling, mild fever, etc.
I commonly get sinus infections and my practitioner today made me wonder if there are clear differences that medical professionals look for between the two, and what those differences might be.
In: Biology
They look at the whole picture. One part of that, of course, is the collection of symptoms you’ve come in with. It’s about what combo of symptoms you’ve brought to the table.
On top of that, they’ll also look at other things like how long it’s been going on for, what time of year it is, what you’ve been doing recently, if there’s anyone around you that’s sick, if you’ve travelled recently, if you have other medical conditions, if you smoke etc.
For example, a runny nose and sore throat in winter in someone who’s otherwise quite healthy and has a lot of contact with other people at work is probably a cold (viral). A chesty cough with gross yellow phlegm and fever in an elderly person who used to smoke 2 packs a day is probably bacterial. A runny nose, sneezing and itching eyes in spring in a young person and which doesn’t seem to go away after a week or two is very likely to be hay fever.
From my time spent doing sickcall and now as a nurse, I still rely on the color of drainage or exudate in the throat and nose. Also, how long the fever has been present. Feel better!
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