As Dr. Komarovsky has repeatedly said, a long cough without fever in a child can signal a serious illness, although in some cases this is only a consequence of an untreated illness. There are many reasons for an unproductive cough. A suitable treatment option is determined by first identifying why the disease appeared. If we neglect to determine the exact cause, for sure the child will receive many unnecessary drugs, while the effectiveness of therapy will be extremely low. How to avoid it?
Cough and its features
Doctors, explaining how to treat a long cough without fever in a child, indicate the need to clarify why this condition appeared. The patient cannot cough up sputum either because it is too thick or because it is absent. To correctly diagnose the cause of the symptom, you need to determine what the case is: is there sputum, how thick is it. To do this, listen to how a person coughs.
Baking cough
A distinctive feature of such a symptom is loudness. The sound made by the patient is quite rough. If the child is old enough to complain and describe his condition, he will say that he has a sore throat. Most have discomfort behind the sternum. Increased volume indicates that the process proceeds with the involvement of the vocal apparatus, the larynx is active. Such a cough signals the presence of a focus of inflammation, swelling of the laryngeal tissues.
It is better to determine how to treat a long cough without fever in a child, after consulting with an experienced doctor. But if there is no fever, the cough has appeared recently, the baby is under three years of age, then you should immediately call an ambulance. If the larynx is swollen, there is a danger of a spasmodic phenomenon, causing the patient to stop breathing. If you were previously worried about another type of cough, it transformed into barking, you also need to contact a specialist. Waiting for an ambulance, open the windows to fill the room with oxygen as much as possible. Doctors will probably offer to hospitalize the patient.
Dry and long
If the cough is not barking, there is no reason to panic. In this case, you need to evaluate what the symptom is. A deep cough is possible, in which the main organ involved in the process is the lungs. The second option is shallow, due to ill he alth of the trachea, larynx, throat.
Dry deep cough is quite easy to identify by eye. Each movement during coughing is accompanied by a displacement of the sternum. Sometimes during coughing, the child bends strongly. The attack lasts a minute or more. Whatever the duration of such a period, the patient feels as if much more time has passed. Each attack is very exhausting for the patient.
Shallow
Sometimes a child's cough without fever is observed for a long time in a superficial form. It can be heard from the outside, and the patient himself is practically not worried and does not complain about anything. Cough attacks are short, the sounds made at the same time are relatively quiet. Many of them hoarse at the same time. The condition usually indicates an inflammatory focus near the larynx. What to do in such a situation, the ENT will tell you. The inflammatory process can be seen during a visual examination, but it will not work to listen.
After examining the patient and formulating a diagnosis, the ENT will determine which drugs are suitable. Antiseptic compositions are selected for local use. Very often write out "Bioparox", "Geksoral". To make the course more effective, the doctor will select drugs with a local anti-inflammatory effect. The doctor prescribes remedies that help remove swelling of the mucous membranes and eliminate blood stasis. Among the well-established preparations are the OKI solution, designed for rinsing, and the Tantum Verde aerosol. No less reliable result is known "Kameton". If the patient speaks hoarsely, mustard plasters or hot steam inhalations are useful.
Dry cough and measures to combat it
If you ask the doctor how to treat a long cough without fever in a child at home, the specialist will suggest firstundergo an examination. Often the condition is explained by bronchial, pulmonary lesions, invasion of pathological microflora. In this case, antibiotics come to the rescue. It is strictly forbidden to choose such medicines for the treatment of a minor on your own, since taking them can cause a lack of therapeutic effect in combination with side effects. Many modern antibiotics are strictly prohibited for children, because they negatively affect a fragile body. Only an experienced doctor can choose a drug that is safe and effective for a specific problem.
On average, the treatment of pneumonia takes about ten days, if the right antimicrobial agent is selected. To eliminate coughing or ease coughing, they may prescribe Codelac Neo or drugs aimed at thinning sputum.
Features of the case
Sometimes it happens that a long dry cough in a child without fever is not accompanied by specific symptoms that can be determined by eye or by listening to the lungs. Some diseases can be detected by taking an x-ray. If it shows an increase in the vascular pattern, it makes sense to assume infection of the respiratory system with mycoplasma, chlamydia. For treatment, the patient will be prescribed Sumamed or Klacid. Do not confuse the microflora with the one that explains gynecological diseases - these are different varieties.
If the disease is accompanied by bronchial spasms, they will additionally prescribe drugs for this phenomenon. On average, a cough is treated in 2-3 weeks.
What else happens?
Sometimes the cause of a long cough without fever in a child is an allergy. In this case, a runny nose is possible, but this symptom is not present in everyone. The patient does not sneeze, there are no other manifestations of sensitization either. Cough is the only thing that indicates an allergy. Similarly, a latent inflammatory reaction can manifest itself.
It is known that sometimes a cough is a sign of a venereal disease, a weakness in the functioning of the heart. Often rashes appear on the skin, but there is no fever.
Causes and consequences
Besides the typical causes of coughing (colds, pneumonia), there are also those that attract much less public attention, although they are much more common. We are talking about the ecological situation and environmental pollution with harmful components. The worse the air quality, the stronger and longer the person will cough. A prolonged cough is characteristic of smokers - not only active, but also passive. The last ones are children living with parents who smoke at home.
If pillows stuffed with natural feathers and down are used at home, dust mites can get into them. These provoke an allergic reaction, cause a cough.
Nuances of some states
The cause of a long cough without fever in a child may be heart disease. If the symptom is due to just such he alth problems, the condition becomes worse when the patient lies down. Many complain that it is difficult for them to breathe in a horizontal position.
There are known cases of laryngeal papillomatosis. One ofsymptoms of such a disease is a cough. The patient complains of discomfort in the throat. No runny nose, no fever.
If a long wet cough is noticeable in a child without fever, false croup can be assumed. This disease indicates itself with extremely strong attacks. There is no fever or discharge from the nose. The patient suffers greatly from seizures, almost unable to cough up sputum.
Sometimes tuberculosis is the cause of the symptom. This disease is one of the most dangerous and socially significant. For a long time, it develops without any symptoms at all. Over time, a person notes a cough. Without adequate treatment, the condition gradually worsens.
Cough: features and diagnoses
If a child has a long wet cough without fever, it is very difficult, if by the end of the attack the patient's condition is such that it seems to him that he will vomit now, one can assume whooping cough, asthma. Similar severe attacks, leading almost to vomiting, have a tumor process in the respiratory system, pneumonia.
If the cough occurs at night, it is probably triggered by an allergy. If, in addition to coughing, there is a runny nose, you can suspect a cold. At night, many cough due to the abnormal location of the internal organs, an improperly developed skeleton, due to inflammation that has engulfed the nerve endings.
Folk wisdom to help he alth
It happens that, for some reason, parents, although they notice a prolonged cough in a child without fever, go to the doctordo not want to go. To help the child cope with the disease, you can turn to traditional medicine recipes. One option suggests combining equal volumes of cranberries and honey and mashing them thoroughly. The mixture is given to the child in a teaspoon several times a day. A drink sweetened with honey will bring no less benefit. To prepare it, half a glass of boiling water is combined with lime "wings" and birch buds. Herbal ingredients are used in one spoonful. First, linden and birch are poured with boiling water and insisted in a container with a closed lid for a quarter of an hour, then a small spoonful of honey is added to the water, and the patient is given a medicinal drink to drink. The optimal frequency of homemade drug use is three times daily.
If parents notice a prolonged cough without fever in a child, you can try to cure the baby by rubbing the sternum with badger fat. This product includes antibacterial components and has anti-inflammatory properties. For the treatment to be effective, you need to give the patient plenty of fluids.
Causes and fight against them
If the allergic nature of the cough is assumed, it is necessary to assess what can provoke the body's reaction, and remove the dangerous product, object from the child's daily routine. If the cough is dry, you can buy an antitussive drug at the pharmacy. Sometimes drugs that affect the cough reflex help. These are not only industrial, but also home-made. For example, you can buy Codeine, or you can make an infusion or decoction of plantain or inflorescences, coltsfoot greens.
Plant raw materials are dried and then used to make infusions. The easiest and most reliable option is to put a couple of large spoons of he althy herbs or a mixture of several plants into a half-liter thermos, pour boiling water over it, close the lid and leave to infuse. The drink is ready in half an hour, but for greater effectiveness, you can leave it overnight.
Drugs and their effects
If parents notice a long cough without fever in a child, resorptive drugs can be taken to eliminate it, thanks to which sputum becomes thinner, the lungs are cleared faster and more efficiently. Often such medicines are used for inhalation. There is a popular ACC tool on sale. In addition to him, Ascoril and Amtersol have a good reputation.
Proteolytic - another popular group of medicines, due to which sputum turns into a more liquid substance. The classic representative of this class is the drug Gelomirtol. If there is no faith in industrial products, you can use thyme greens to make homemade medicine.
Sometimes mucoregulators are useful. Such funds in the pharmacy are represented by Bromhexine, Ambroxol. Both drugs have long been known and have an excellent reputation.
When the child is very young
A long cough without fever in a child can be considered normal if the baby is calm, not naughty, there are no problems with sleep and nutrition. If the child is active, the weakness of the body is not noticeable, there are no problems with breathing, you can not worry aboutbaby he alth. If the cough becomes barking, then call an ambulance. If the child feels pain when coughing, if the attacks come often and last for a long time, you need to show the child to the doctor. If the baby cannot sleep due to a cough, it is imperative to determine what provoked the condition.
Young children are prescribed drugs that calm and relieve spasms: "Kashnol", "Ascoril". To improve the quality of sputum, it is indicated to take thyme pharmacy syrup, ACC. Sometimes remedies for better expectoration are useful - "Bronhikum", "Stoptussin". Excellent results are shown by taking psyllium syrup, which is available in almost any modern pharmacy.
When to worry?
They say that there is a long cough without fever in a child, if the duration of the symptom persists from a month to two. If the duration reaches three or four months and exceeds this period, chronic cough is diagnosed. The task of parents from an early age is to teach the child to spit sputum, and not swallow it. Very often in babies, cough is caused by glossitis, candidiasis of the oral region. Many babies have mycotic foci on the oral mucosa. At the same time, a dry cough worries, the attacks of which irritate the patient. A cheesy whitish coating accumulates on the surfaces, irritating internal receptors. Fungal cough is never accompanied by fever. Drug treatment is not always necessary, since such pathologies in many are explained by incorrectnutrition and imperfection of the digestive system. A sick child is prescribed pro-, prebiotics, special food supplements. If this does not help, they select safe antimycotic and antiseptic agents.
A long cough without fever in a child can signal a helminthic invasion. Roundworms at a certain stage of existence consume a lot of oxygen, therefore they migrate to the pulmonary system. Since the parasite is a foreign body, it prevents the child from breathing, so a cough occurs. For treatment, a course of anthelmintic drugs is prescribed. In particularly severe cases, urgent surgery is needed.
