Many are interested in the causes of heavy breathing in children. Any, even a slight change in the child's condition causes anxiety among parents. Babies do not breathe like an adult: they sigh during sleep, the tummy and chest move more often, but this is a physiological norm. Any respiratory disorder is called difficulty breathing, and it is this factor that is decisive when choosing the tactics of treatment for respiratory diseases. In this article, we will talk about what violations in the respiratory system of the baby you need to pay attention to and how to help if the child is breathing heavily.
Breathing process
Breathing is a complex physiological process. It includes two varieties: external and internal. The respiratory process is divided into the act of inhalation and exhalation. Inhalation is the active part, while the diaphragm, the respiratory muscles of the chest, the muscles of the anteriorabdominal wall. At the same time, the ribs protrude forward, there is an outward movement of the chest and abdominal walls. The passive part of the process is exhalation. There is a relaxation of the respiratory muscles and the diaphragm, the lowering of the ribs down and inward. The physiological respiratory rate is directly dependent on the age of the child: the younger he is, the higher the frequency. With age, this figure approaches that of an adult.
It happens that a small child breathes heavily. Why is this happening?
Diagnosis
If the breathing process is complicated by symptoms such as inconsistency, increased chest movements, unusual sounds, it is necessary to pay attention to this and clarify the reasons. Sometimes these manifestations can be caused by nightmares or a common cold, but sometimes heavy breathing indicates a much more serious problem and requires immediate treatment. In most cases, heavy and noisy breathing occurs with false or viral croup in children. Symptoms and treatment are discussed below.
Childhood infections
Sometimes it can be a manifestation of childhood infections such as measles, chickenpox, rubella, diphtheria, scarlet fever, whooping cough. The inflammatory process of the larynx and tracheal mucosa acts in such a way that the lumen narrows. The child begins to experience a lack of air when breathing. This is what causes heavy and deep breathing, the voice changes, becoming hoarse. There is also a barking cough. The defeat of the respiratory system always causes severebreathing, but depending on the situation and the nature of the pathology, treatment is needed differently. Doctors categorically forbid self-administration of inhalations to a child. Such self-treatment can adversely affect the he alth of the baby and cause a crisis.
Allergy
Allergies are a very common cause of hard and heavy breathing. In this situation, it is necessary to determine the type of allergen and try to exclude the child from contact with it. You should also consult your doctor about medications that can relieve seizures. The risk of allergic reactions is reduced by adjusting the diet and introducing as many vitamins and minerals into the diet as possible in order to strengthen the immune system.
In addition to painful conditions, the fact that a child breathes heavily can be a physiological feature of the body. This is typical for babies under the age of one and a half years. In this case, the reason is the high elasticity of the tissues of the respiratory tract. If at the same time the child eats normally, sleeps soundly and grows well, these features do not need to be paid attention to. Upon reaching one and a half years, the cartilage of the larynx will thicken and the heaviness of breathing will pass by itself. But still, it is worth paying the doctor's attention to this at the next appointment to make sure there is no pathology.
Causes and treatments
So, the child is one year old, breathing heavily, what should I do?
Naturally, the specialist selects the treatment depending on the causes that caused the respiratory pathology. In the event that the condition of the baby does not causeserious concerns at the moment, you need to make an appointment with a pediatrician. If the baby's condition is rapidly deteriorating and he cannot breathe normally, then an ambulance should be called. This must be done necessarily if the rigidity of breathing is accompanied by difficulty in passing air, a blue nasolabial triangle, the inability to make sounds, lethargy and drowsiness.
When breathing difficulty is caused by a cold or a cold, it is usually accompanied by nasal congestion, cough, sore throat and fever. It is necessary to call a doctor to confirm the diagnosis, before that the child is given a plentiful warm drink and bed rest is provided. The doctor will prescribe treatment, and the heaviness of breathing will disappear as the treatment progresses and other symptoms of the disease disappear.
Bronchiolitis
It happens that a child breathes heavily in sleep.
Another cause could be a disease like bronchiolitis. It has a viral nature and affects the bronchi. Most often occurs in babies of the first year of life. The condition is accompanied by a persistent, prolonged cough, which not only makes breathing difficult, but makes this process very problematic. With this pathology, the child does not breathe, but frequent and deep sighs. Along with this, appetite decreases, the baby is naughty, sleeps poorly. It is necessary to call a doctor who decides on the need for hospitalization. When the disease is cured, breathing returns to normal.
If a child has asthma, his breathing will be difficult, he will cough and choke whenslightest physical exertion. As a rule, asthma or allergies are found in the next of kin of the child. In this case, only a doctor can prescribe an effective, and most importantly, appropriate therapy for the condition. With this disease, self-medication is especially dangerous.
Difficulty in breathing can be with croup. In addition, the condition is accompanied by a barking cough, hoarse voice and fever. Breathing worsens at night. It is necessary to call an ambulance, and before it arrives, try to alleviate the condition of the child. To do this, you need to pour hot water and close the door tightly, then introduce the child into the bathroom and let him breathe warm humidified air. This contributes to the expansion of the lumen of the airways. If this does not have a beneficial effect, you can take the child outside and let him breathe in the fresh night air.
Pneumonia
Another common cause of heavy breathing is pneumonia. At the same time, the child very often sighs hoarsely, coughs heavily, the temperature can rise above 38 degrees. On inspiration, you can notice how the skin is drawn into the intercostal spaces. Urgent hospitalization is needed here, at home treatment of pneumonia can cause serious complications.
This is what hard breathing means in a child.
All of these causes are pathological conditions that require medical treatment, but there may be other circumstances in which breathing will be difficult. For example, as a result of a foreign body entering the airways, a child's breathing can become hard, intermittent, and hoarse. This condition requires immediate medical attention.
Adenoiditis
There may also be diseases that interfere with normal breathing, in which surgical intervention is necessary. Adenoiditis is one of these pathologies. The larger the size of the adenoids, the more they interfere with free breathing. With this disease, the child's sleep is accompanied by snoring and hoarse sighs. The baby breathes through his mouth all the time, due to the fact that his nose is stuffed up, in the morning, when he wakes up, he looks sleepy and irritated, often suffers from colds.
In this situation, it is necessary to consult an ENT doctor, who prescribes the treatment. If the child's condition is critical, then an operation is prescribed to remove the adenoids. In addition to all this, such a condition can occur due to the elementary dryness of the air in the room or inhalation of cigarette smoke. When a child is breathing heavily, how to help him? More on that later.
How to alleviate the condition of the child?
There are ways that can alleviate the condition of the child and allow you to prevent drying of the larynx and relieve spasm:
- humidification of indoor air using special devices;
- inhalation of warm humidified air;
- inhalation with mineral water, soda or saline.
For inhalation, you can use aerosol and steam inhalers, in a hospital - steam-oxygentents. We remind you once again that you can do inhalations only after consulting a doctor.
Croup in children: symptoms and treatment
Croup is characterized by a triad of symptoms:
- barking paroxysmal cough;
- stridor (noisy breathing), especially with crying and excitement;
- hoarse voice.
In addition, the appearance of minor signs of illness is noted - severe anxiety, rapid breathing and heartbeat, nausea, hyperthermia.
With increasing respiratory failure, all signs worsen, the child's skin becomes gray or bluish in color, salivation increases, wheezing is heard even in calmness, anxiety is replaced by lethargy.
Children with this diagnosis need hospitalization. The first thing doctors should do is restore airway patency. To do this, it is important to reduce spasm of the larynx and swelling, as well as free the lumen from the accumulated mucus.
Prescribing drug therapy:
- Requires prescription of glucocorticoids to reduce swelling of the larynx (through a nebulizer, for example).
- Means that relieve spasm of the respiratory tract ("Salbutamol", "Atrovent", "Baralgin").
- Perform "Ambroxol" inhalation to expel sputum.
- Use antihistamines if needed.
In difficult cases, tracheal intubation or tracheotomy with mechanical ventilation is needed.
If the child is having difficulty breathing, now we know what to do.
