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What do allergies look like?
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
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Any allergy is quick to announce itself with various symptoms, which should be paid attention to and measures taken to identify and eliminate the source of the ailment. If a person encounters this disease for the first time, he may not know what an allergy looks like and start taking medications on his own, intended to eliminate some other ailment with similar symptoms. And the allergy, meanwhile, will continue to progress, causing a feeling of anxiety, discomfort, etc.
How to recognize an allergy?
Most often, allergies are confused with diseases such as scabies or fungal infections. Some may confuse the onset of illness with chickenpox and not immediately begin treatment for "chickenpox." In other words, it is necessary to understand what an allergy looks like so as not to treat non-existent diseases.
Allergies are most similar to urticaria – they also appear suddenly and can also persist for several hours or days. Urticaria is characterized by increased body temperature, itchy skin, reddened skin, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Similar symptoms also appear with some types of allergies.
There is such a thing as contact dermatitis - this is when the appearance of red, itchy skin occurs only in those places that directly touched the allergen. What does an allergy look like in this case? First of all, the place of contact is covered with bubbles or blisters, unbearable skin itching progresses. To stop the development of these symptoms, it is necessary to get rid of the allergen as quickly as possible, stop touching it. By the way, some people suffer from cold dermatitis - this is when the skin turns red, itches and becomes covered with spots due to exposure to cold.
In addition to itching and reddened skin, there are many other signs that allow you to recognize what an allergy looks like. For example, this is watery eyes. Tears flow almost non-stop, and the eyelids swell from frequent rubbing. There is even such a thing as allergic conjunctivitis.
The diagnosis of "Quincke's edema", as well as urticaria, is accompanied by such allergic symptoms as swollen lips, eyes, cheeks, eyelids and even the larynx. Both of these diseases are very dangerous for the human body and health in general, as they affect the layers of subcutaneous tissue, causing suffocation, which can lead to death.
Allergic rhinitis is another sign of what an allergy looks like. This ailment is often called allergic rhinitis, usually accompanied by sneezing, nasal congestion and unbearable skin itching. According to allergy sufferers, the nose is constantly "running", one handkerchief is replaced by another every half hour. Frequent sneezing causes headaches. Very often, patients confuse allergic rhinitis with the onset of a cold.
The development of allergic rhinitis is facilitated by the inhalation of pollen, dandruff and animal hair, house dust, fungal spores, etc. Vasoconstrictors are powerless in this situation.
What to do if it is an allergy?
In no case should you self-medicate an allergy, as this can only make the situation worse. Even if the patient knows what an allergy looks like and it is clear that the malaise that has arisen is precisely an allergy and nothing else, under any circumstances, after providing first aid to yourself or someone else, you should immediately contact a medical center so that a doctor can diagnose the general condition of the body and, possibly, help eliminate the symptoms of the malaise as quickly as possible.