It can be difficult to determine whether your symptoms are due to a common cold or allergies. However, the most distinct difference is that allergy symptoms generally only cause nasal congestion, runny nose and sneezing, without the other typical symptoms of the common cold such as fever, headache, muscle aches and sore throat. Allergy symptoms may also cause sinus congestion that manifests itself as pressure behind the cheekbones and mild to moderate pressure or headache in your forehead just above the eyebrows.