You have itchy nose, scratchy throat, severe headache and mild temperature. Is it flu or a cold? The symptoms of cold and flu may appear similar but there are various subtle differences between the two. Before consuming over-the-counter medicines or rushing to the doctor, you must understand the different signs of cold vs. flu.

So, to get a better idea about both of them, you may continue to read this article.

High fever
In case of cold, high fever is generally uncommon in adults, slight fever can be possible. Although children usually develop mild fever with cold. On the other hand, a fever of 102 degrees or more signals that you have the flu. Also, when it comes to flu, this fever can last for three to four days.

Body ache
While analyzing the signs of cold vs. flu, the aspect of body ache must be considered. With common cold, people usually complain of nasal congestion and are less likely to experience body pain. In contrast to this, the painful body aches and chills are the initial symptoms of flu. For a lot of people, their muscles feel so sore while suffering from the flu that it hurts even after a slight movement of their body.

Cough
When it comes to cold, you may suffer from a hacking or mucous-producing cough, which may cause minor inconvenience. A persistent dry cough is a warning sign of the flu that makes your throat scratchy and tightens your chest, causing extreme amount of discomfort. In case you have a respiratory illness like asthma then it may get worse with the flu.

Sudden symptoms
One of the easiest ways to differentiate between the signs of cold versus flu is to keep a check on their development cycle. When you develop a cold, it normally starts with mild sneezing or congestion and then gradually progresses. With flu, it is completely different as people feel fine and then abruptly fall sick. Flu has rapid onset within three to five hours and hits suddenly with high fever and body ache.

Complications
Cold usually lasts for three to five days and then the person once again starts feeling better. Anything that lasts for more than that could be the flu. Most importantly, people develop complications like pneumonia and strep throat with the flu, which is not the case in common cold.

Extreme exhaustion
Among various signs of cold versus flu, monitoring your exhaustion level can also help. Feeling tired on a daily basis due to work is different but suddenly feeling completely drained on energy, is an indication of the flu. A person never feels exhausted when suffering from a cold, whereas extreme exhaustion means that your body is using white blood cells to fight some kind of flu or virus.

By comparing these signs with the symptoms being experienced, one can easily decide whether it is a common cold or the flu. Moreover, if one experiences the worsening of any of the symptoms then they should rush to the doctor.