Just a cold or something worse? That's the question

Everyone has one! Sound a bit like your teen talking about a smartphone? Well this time it’s not. But if you’ve talked to anyone in Bonner County in the last two weeks, you’ve probably heard that they have one, a family member has one and probably a neighbor or two have one, too.

It’s about a cold, the flu, a sinus infection, bronchitis or pneumonia and although they are all virus related they differ in severity and treatment. And they’re going around. So, how can you tell which is which and when to seek medical attention?

According to Medscape.com, The common cold begins one to two days after exposure to the virus. Episodes begin with a scratchy, tickling or sore throat and then progress to a runny nose, sneezing, cough, mild aches and headache.

Most healthcare professionals will tell you that there is nothing short of treating the individual symptoms to do for the common cold, other than to wait the roughly seven days, or one week whichever comes first, it takes for it to go away. Drinking lots of fluids and getting plenty of rest is always a good idea when fighting a virus.

The flu can be a different animal. Or should we say bug? You can feel fine in the morning and by afternoon have a blinding headache, fever as high as 106 degrees, and all the same symptoms a cold will produce plus your face will flush, your eyes will be watery and you’ll feel extremely fatigued.

“The person also experiences severe aches and pains in the muscles, joints, and periophthalmic areas. (Periophthalmic means around the eyes. Nice word, don’t you think?) This discomfort contributes to the desire to rest and be left alone. Thus, it is far more common for influenza patients to voluntarily miss school or work,” Medscape’s website states.

Pneumonia can mimic both the common cold and influenza. You’ll feel like it’s really hard to breathe and you may have the chills, high fever, sweating, chest pain and a productive cough with yellow/green mucus.

But, bear in mind that the symptoms for pneumonia are very similar to those of bronchitis. Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes.

Symptoms include that wet cough, wheezing, chest pains, fatigue and fever. Sound familiar?

Your practitioner can tell the difference between bronchitis and pneumonia often by listening to you breathe through their stethoscope, or, for sure, with a chest X-ray. The X-ray will show your lungs clear if it’s bronchitis or the infection if it’s pneumonia.

And then there are sinus infections. WebMD defines a sinus infection as an inflammation or swelling of your sinuses. Bet we could have figured that out! Symptoms include thick, yellow, foul-smelling nasal discharge, pressure or pain around the face and eyes, headache, nasal obstruction, congestion, post-nasal drip, and a cold that just won’t go away or gets worse instead of better.

Here’s the bottom line. If you have a common cold, stay warm, take over-the-counter medications, pamper yourself a bit and encourage anyone around you to wash their hands often and you do the same. If you have a fever that can’t be reduced with analgesics (Tylenol, ibuprofen, aspirin) or if your cold symptoms haven’t gotten better or become worse after ten days, seek medical attention.

Kathy Hubbard is a trustee on Bonner General Hospital Foundation Board. She can be reached at 264-4029 or kathyleehubbard@yahoo.com.