Let's think, is it always necessary to fight with a cough? Cough more often - our friend! It helps clear bronchi and lungs. It is known that the mucus is constantly formed in the lungs, which is carried out by the ciliated epithelium. If the cleansing mechanism is broken, then sputum is collected. A cough is a reflex act, allowing quick and effective cleansing of the respiratory tract.
If sputum accumulates in the alveoli and bronchioles, wheezing occurs. In stagnant sputum, as in a swamp, microorganisms "bloom" - so serious pulmonary pathology starts. If the airways are blocked with viscous sputum and if this occurs against the background of spasm of bronchioles, bronchi, obstructive bronchitis develops. Dry rattles, wheezing, buzzing in this case are audible even at a distance.
Not far from trouble
Barking cough in a small child should immediately alert the parents - it can be laryngitis. In young children, the submucosal layer of the pharynx, the vocal cords, is very developed, it swells rapidly, closing the vocal cavity. This is the false cereal: the baby starts to gasp in front of his eyes, helplessly gasping for air. At the initial stages of this disease, inhalation with a solution of table salt, drinking soda or steamed potatoes, in the tunics, foot baths, a bag of heated salt on the trachea, is a good help. If there are no improvements, urgently call an ambulance.
Often in children up to a year develops edema submucosal layer of the smallest bronchus - bronchiolitis. The lumen of the bronchioles closes, and a terrible picture arises - the child begins to suffocate ... That's why children up to a year can sometimes die from the usual ARVI. The doctor has an order from the Ministry of Health that children of the first year of life are subject to compulsory hospitalization with ARVI. If the doctor insists - do not refuse!
Home Remedies
With the exacerbation of illness in children is difficult to fight. If an adult bronchospasm is easily removed with an inhaler, the child is almost always required to withdraw the sputum. Sometimes cough is helped by a simple massage - ask the baby to hang his head from the bed and tap the palm of his hand in the area of the projection of the lower lobes of the lungs. If the child is very small, during the illness it needs to be turned more often from side to side, tapping it on the back, to find for him such a situation when the sputum is best. This simple but effective massage is indicated for bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, when the cough is moist, deep, with wheezing, it can be repeated every hour or two, as sputum accumulates.
Putting vacuum banks - this is yesterday. But if there is a lot of sputum in the lungs, then the "running" cans contribute well to it, or a can of massage (put a can on your back, well oiled with petroleum, and then it is quickly driven around the back). This is a fairly effective procedure, but it is suitable for children over three years old.
To gorchichnikam experts advise to treat cautiously: they can provoke an allergy. It is better to put a dry mustard in the toes of a baby, and on the breast - dry heat (a bag of heated salt). Very good help with coughing teas with expectorant herbs (violet tricolor, plantain, pine buds, rhizome cyanosis). Pine resin - gum works very well. It should be chewed like chewing gum. Kidney buds not only relieve bronchospasm, but also enhance immunity. Ledum is also good, but poisonous, it should not be used for children. But it's better to forget about mother-and-stepmother! It has already been proven that it strengthens bronchospasm, making it difficult for sputum to escape.
Unproductive cough
With a superficial, dry, paroxysmal cough, the tactic must be different. Very many cough medicines in this situation are powerless, because it is caused by the receptors of the pharynx, larynx or trachea. Usually this long, painful cough stretches for weeks, months. It is most often caused by a respiratory virus that affects the upper respiratory tract. Then an allergic component can be attached to it. Here we need completely different means - antiallergic.
Here is another very familiar situation - an evening painful cough, from which the baby can not fall asleep. Try to water the child with warm water (or milk) with soda at the tip of the spoon in small sips, let him breathe in pairs of 2% soda (1 tablespoon per 0.5 liters of water). After that, put a bag of heated salt on the breast and wrap the baby in a blanket.
Not all tablets are equally good
And now let's talk about simple cough remedies, the most common and inexpensive ones. Tablets from a cough based on a herb of thermopsis with soda today is not easy to buy. The herb of thermopsis increases the number of immunoglobulins in the bronchi, but they act on the lungs through the receptors of the stomach, so these tablets should only be used on an empty stomach! Give the child 1-2 tablets (depending on the age) every three hours before meals. Mukaltin is a wonderful drug based on the althaea root. The tablet is pre-dissolved in warm water. A child over seven years of age is given at least two tablets at once every two hours.
Many parents "indulge" potassium iodide or potions containing it. It is not recommended for children to use them, they are effective in high concentrations, but in small ones are useless. Adults they are appointed only with chronic processes. The same can be said about inhalations in pairs of onion and garlic. Often they are effective, but with ARVI their use can enhance the catarrhal (inflammatory) phenomena of the upper respiratory tract. Many people like the drug bromhexine. It is important to know that the first five days it acts as an expectorant. Only from the sixth day begins to manifest its antitussive effect. And one more tip. If a young child has frequent bronchitis with obstructions, especially without the temperature, it must be examined for asthma.
Reflux and cough
The cause of paroxysmal coughing, hoarseness, even bronchospasm with wheezing and obstruction can be reflux - a reverse throw of food from the stomach into the esophagus. The contents of the stomach can also irritate the nasopharynx, bronchi. A case of reflux is not so rare.
It must be said that regurgitation for a baby up to a year is almost normal. Here you put the baby in the crib - and he immediately started coughing. It is worth giving him warm water, raise - cough is reduced. He intensifies after a plentiful supper before going to bed, when a lot of liquid is drunk.
Reflux causes a strong odor from the mouth. Often, these children increased vomiting reflex. If you notice these symptoms in your child, it may very well be that his relapsing bronchitis, laryngitis and even bronchial asthma are associated with the irritating effect of food left from the stomach.
It should be noted that 90% of patients with bronchial asthma have a reverse throw of food from the stomach into the esophagus, which is confirmed by research scientists. And it is not surprising, because almost all anti-asthmatic drugs relax the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach. This should be known to all lovers "feed" children with no-shpoy for any abdominal pain. But-shpa, valerian, other sedatives relax the sphincters of the digestive tract, and, therefore, food from the duodenum freely rushes into the stomach and esophagus.
What should you do if you suspect a child's reflux? First of all, do not overfeed it at night. Before going to bed, it is advisable to take a walk for a little while, so that the food goes better through the gastrointestinal tract. And of course, discuss the situation with the doctor. After all, in any case, only after the correct diagnosis can cure a cough - a small child self-medication can seriously harm.