Cough, one of the most common problems in children. Sometimes he appears out of nowhere. It seems that everything was fine with the child in the morning, but by the evening "the mouth does not close." In order to help the child, parents should know what types of coughs children have.
General introduction to the problem
Cough is a protective reflex reaction of the body. It helps clear the airways from:
- microorganisms;
- foreign objects;
- accumulated mucus.
General information about types of cough in children:
- Dry (unproductive) - no sputum.
- Wet (productive) - characterized by sputum discharge.
Depending on duration:
- Acute - lasts no more than three weeks.
- Chronic (protracted) - lasts more than twenty-one days.
Depending on the frequency of the problem:
- Periodic - may intensify at certain times of the day. Appears as a normal cough or attack. Maybebe both dry and wet.
- Permanent - the cough does not stop at least for some long time. It can wax and wane. This is the reason that the child does not sleep, eats poorly, is naughty.
Now about each of the species in more detail.
Dry cough
The causes of this type of cough in children include:
- Irritation of nerve receptors that are in the trachea and bronchi. It is caused by various infections or foreign bodies entering the organs.
- Exposure of viruses and microbes to the upper respiratory tract.
If a dry cough appears in the morning or occasionally during the day, is not paroxysmal in nature, does not bother the baby more than five times a day, then there is no need to worry. Thus, the upper respiratory tract is cleansed. But still, the child is worth watching.
Dry cough is a symptom of what diseases?
- Laryngitis is an infectious disease. Accompanied by a dry barking cough, hoarseness, intoxication and elevated body temperature within 37-37.5 degrees for more than a week.
- Whooping cough. Characterized by severe spasmodic cough with deep wheezing.
Continue talking about dry cough
In addition to the above, it is a symptom of diseases such as:
- Measles - at the beginning of the illness, a child develops a dry cough with fever.
- False croup, another name for it is laryngotracheobronchitis - a very dangerous disease. Do without medical helpimpossible. There is swelling of the trachea, shortness of breath, barking dry cough. The appearance of the latter is provoked by blockage of the lumen of the respiratory system. Before the doctor arrives, the child should be given an alkaline drink and brought into a room with moist air.
- Allergy - often accompanied by a dry cough, especially at the beginning of the problem. In addition to this symptom, the baby has a stuffy nose, severe lacrimation appears, rashes may appear on the skin.
- Pharyngitis and tracheitis - these ailments are also accompanied by frequent bouts of dry cough.
- Pleurisy is a dangerous respiratory disease, a symptom of which is also a dry cough. There are painful sensations that increase on inspiration.
Dry cough treatment
First, we will talk about the basic principles of getting rid of the problem:
- Compliance with sanitary and hygienic conditions in the room where the child is: elimination of allergens, wet cleaning twice a day, ventilation and humidification of the room.
- Antihistamine therapy is used to relieve inflammation in the upper respiratory tract. Used: "Suprastin", "Pipolfen", "Claritin", "Diazolin". The dosage of the drug should be strictly observed.
- A child needs to drink at least one and a half liters of warm alkaline drink per day. This refers to milk, fruit drink, compote, mineral water.
- Antibiotics are prescribed only in exceptional cases (the presence of a bacterial infection).
- To strengthenlung and bronchial tissue needs bed rest and breathing exercises.
Get rid of the disease
The cause of the illness has been clarified. After that, you can proceed to treatment. What can you give a child for a cough?
With SARS or acute respiratory infections, the baby needs to moisten the throat mucosa. This procedure will reduce the cough reflex. Drinking plenty of water in small sips, gargling will help.
All drugs for dry cough are divided into two groups:
- Thicken sputum, remove it from the bronchi - these are mucolic.
- They act on the cough center, suppress the reflex - these are antitussives. From this group, the best for children are: "Codelac", "Sinekod", "Robitussin". These preparations are available in the form of a syrup and relieve a coughing fit.
With ARVI, you can eliminate the cough using "Lizobakt". Its components block harmful microflora, restore the mucous membrane of the larynx.
An excellent remedy for dry cough is ACC, licorice syrup, Lepeksin, Pertusin, Gedelix. These drugs can be given to children at any age.
If a child has a dry cough with fever, then the treatment depends on the cause of the pathology.
Influenza - antiviral ("Arbidol", "Anaferon"). Means for the transition of dry cough to wet ("ACC" and others). Antibiotics if a secondary infection has joined ("Amoxicillin" and others).
Whooping cough - intramuscular antibiotics ("Gentamicin","Ampicillin"); expectorants ("Ambroxol"). Sedatives and anticonvulsants ("Seduxen").
For bronchitis - antibiotics, antiviral, mucolytic ("Ambroxol", "Lazolvan").
Pneumonia - antibiotics, antihistamines, drugs to maintain immunity ("Arbidol"), mucolytics.
Treatment must be carried out under medical supervision.
Baking cough treatment
What should I do if my child has a barking cough? The solution to this issue depends on the reasons that caused this ailment. If a foreign body has fallen, then surgical intervention is indispensable.
In other cases, drug treatment is used. Most often, mucolytic, expectorant and antitussive drugs are prescribed. The latter are used only if the barking cough lasts for a long time.
Effective means of treatment are warming procedures. Mustard plasters are most often used. Older children can steam their legs. If the barking cough is accompanied by asthma, the child will choke. Aerosols are already suitable here, they significantly reduce the symptoms of the disease.
During the period of illness, the child should be given plenty of fluids to drink. Tight clothing will also have to be abandoned.
Wet cough
A wet or wet cough is productive. Mucus well departs from the bronchi. The body cleanses itself, but it is necessary to help it cope with the disease.
The main reason for the appearancethis type of cough in children are infections. The beginning of recovery is characterized by the transition from dry to wet.
Wet, severe cough without fever can be triggered by contact with an allergen. At first, the sputum does not come out. Gradually accumulates in the bronchi. In this case, the treatment is delayed. There are prerequisites for the development of obstructive bronchitis or asthmatic attacks.
After a wet, prolonged cough, a child does not always get relief. This situation occurs if the cause of discomfort is the following diseases:
- sinusitis;
- whooping cough;
- bronchial obstruction;
- astroreflux reflux.
After an attack, heaviness in the chest remains. Sometimes a wet cough can turn into vomiting.
A wet, mild cough in a child is not always a symptom of a serious illness. In a baby, it appears when:
- getting mom's milk or saliva "at the wrong address";
- coughing at night can trigger excessive saliva production during teething.
What should you know?
The child starts to cough, what should I do? Before answering this question, a few recommendations for parents whose children have not yet reached the age of three. For wet cough:
- Do not give sputum thinners and cough suppressants at the same time. This can cause mucus to settle in the bronchi.
- Prefer combination herbal preparation in syrup form.
- Give your baby plenty to drink (tea, water, juice).
- Air inthe room should not be dry.
- At normal body temperature, from the age of two, a child can do hot foot baths, put mustard plasters, massage the chest, and rub with eucalyptus balm.
From the age of five, inhalations are attributed to bedtime or after a walk.
Self-treatment is dangerous. Don't take care of it. If the child starts coughing, let the pediatrician tell you what to do.
Treatment
Treat a wet cough is essential. This will help ease the expectoration of mucus. After all, babies are very viscous. Its long stay inside the child's body is harmful. This is a kind of focus of infection.
What can be given to a child for coughing in this case? Usually, mucolytic, expectorant, combination drugs are prescribed.
- Mucolitic - liquefy sputum, promote its expectoration.
- Expectorants (resorptive) - dilute sputum and increase the amount of mucus. These include baking soda, ammonium chloride, potassium and sodium iodide.
- Expectorants with reflex action - activate the cough and vomiting center. Contribute to the fastest discharge of sputum.
For these purposes, two types of drugs are used: synthetic and herbal. Let's talk about the latter in more detail.
They are prescribed in the treatment of pneumonia, colds, bronchitis. These drugs are well absorbed by the body, have a good effect on the well-being of the baby, and support immunity. Among the drugs I would like to highlight "Herbion Syrupivy" and "Herbion Primrose Syrup". These funds contribute to the rapid transition of an unproductive cough into a productive one, improve expectoration.
Allergic cough
Caused by a negative reaction of the bronchi to one type of allergen.
The factors that cause such a response of the body include:
- heredity;
- bad environment;
- lowered immunity;
- helminth infection.
Most often this type of discomfort in children appears at the age of one and a half years and more. If symptoms of an allergic cough are detected in a child, treatment should be carried out immediately and under the supervision of a doctor. Otherwise, you can provoke the development of bronchial asthma.
Signs of an illness that will help distinguish a cold cough from an allergic one:
- sudden onset of seizure;
- barking character;
- no or little sputum;
- duration - up to several weeks;
- attack intensifies at night;
- development of rhinitis;
- lack of temperature;
- no effect from taking antitussives.
We remove the attack
Identified by symptoms, the child has an allergic cough. The primary treatment is to relieve the attack. Experts advise following these rules:
- Cut off contact with anything that could be an allergen.
- To soften the mucous membrane, relieve perspiration - let'schild to drink more. This will help reduce coughing. Best used: alkaline water, chamomile tea, warm milk.
- Give your baby antihistamines. A good effect is given by: "Diazolin", "Tavigil", "Suprastin". Their long-term use is prohibited.
- If the product is the cause of the cough, then let the child drink activated charcoal, Polysorb, Filtrum.
- Inhalation through a nebulizer will help soften your throat. Mineral water or saline will do.
If an attack is accompanied by shortness of breath, suffocation, blue skin, wheezing, then immediately call an ambulance.
Chronic cough
If a child does not stop coughing for more than three weeks, then the disease can be called chronic. In turn, this pathology is divided into several types:
1. Depending on the character:
- barking and rude;
- with noisy exhalation and loud;
- frequent and rare;
- morning and night.
2. By degree of manifestation:
- long,
- easy,
- coughing.
3. By duration:
- permanent,
- paroxysmal,
- episodic.
Treatment for chronic cough is as follows:
- If inflammation is suspected, antibiotic therapy is prescribed.
- If the cough is accompanied by postnasal syndrome, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory andantiallergic drugs.
- For bronchial asthma - bronchial dilators.
- Chronic cough in a child without a runny nose, may be caused by a psychogenic factor. It often appears during an upper respiratory infection and does not go away for a long time. It is possible to prevent the development of the disease by the method of suggestion. Experts confirm this fact.
Conclusion
You already know not only what types of coughs are, but also how to help your baby in a given situation. But I also want to touch on one topic - how to breed cough medicine for children. If something is not done correctly, then the child's condition can worsen.
- If the dry medicine is in a bottle, then add water to the mark on the container. After that, shake everything thoroughly.
- Means in a bag. One dose dissolves in fifteen milliliters of water.
Remember! The powder dissolves in boiled warm water.
