Often the rhinitis affects both nasal passages and is characterized by such signs:
- a feeling of dryness and burning in the nose,
- sore throat,
- sneezing,
- weakness, lethargy, headache,
- strong discharge from the nasopharynx, after 1 or 2 days, first liquid and transparent, then yellow-green in color and thick in consistency,
- increase in temperature to 37.1-37.5 degrees,
- the mucous membrane of the nose swells,
- difficulty breathing,
- the sense of smell disappears,
- the perception of taste is deteriorating,
- stuffiness in the ears (sometimes), noise, lacrimation.
The baby can not complain to you about the lack of smell and burning sensation in the nose, but in some ways you can diagnose a runny nose:
- general anxiety,
- deterioration of sleep (attacks of suffocation and dyspnea),
- refusal to eat, malnutrition, decreased appetite,
After 1-2 days, there are discharge from the nose.
Young children have very narrow nasal passages. And even a small swelling of the mucous membrane leads to difficulty in feeding and impaired breathing, because when sucking the baby is forced to breathe through the mouth.
Causes of a cold
Runny nose happens:
Infectious rhinitis. The causes are often viruses - they provoke ARVI.
Noninfectious rhinitis. Causes: harmful environmental effects, allergies, strong smells, dust, smoke. And also occurs because of the trauma of the nasal mucosa (the foreign body in the nasal passage provokes the release of moisture from the nose),
In all cases, there are "favorable" conditions, due to which the nasal mucosa becomes infected and reacts with inflammation.
Treatment of a cold in young children
The methods of treating the common cold depend on the correct diagnosis. Treatment of allergic rhinitis will be fundamentally different from treatment for an infectious rhinitis.
Often, rhinitis is a manifestation of a viral disease (an infectious rhinitis). Thus, the body of a small child is struggling with an infection in the nose (stopping it and not letting it into the lungs and throat), in turn, the mucous membrane of the nose secrete mucus that contains substances that can neutralize viruses.
It is necessary to know that the common cold is a natural reaction of the organism, which helps to destroy microbes in the nasopharynx and nose. There is no need to treat a child from a cold. The only thing that can be done is to ease the course of the illness. The main task is that the mucus in the nose of your young child does not dry up.
Observe the conditions:
- the air in the room where the sick child is, must be cool (up to 22 degrees), clean and moist.
- The child must consume large amounts of liquid.
If the phlegm in the nose dry up - the baby will start to breathe through the mouth. As a result, phlegm will begin to dry out in the lungs, and thereby clog the bronchi (one of the main causes of inflammation of the lungs).
What you need and can do with a cold?
You can help your child if you moisturize the nasal passages (dilute mucus). To do this, you can use saline (the most affordable and cheap drug) - water with the addition of salt.
With a strong desire to overdose this solution is impossible, safely drip it into each nostril (3-4 drops), at least every half hour.
You can use "Ekteritsid" (a liquid oily preparation that has weak disinfecting properties) - covers a thin layer of oil mucous membrane, thereby preventing drying.
In this respect, oil solutions of vitamin A (retinol) and vitamin E (tocopherol) are ideal. All of the above drugs drip no more than 1 time in 2 hours (1-2 drops), they can be combined with saline.
Rhinitis in the baby: what can not be done?
- to drip into the nose of the child antibiotics,
- Flush the nose with a special pear (the liquid easily passes from the nose to the Eustachian tube, which connects the nose and ear, and causes otitis),
- suck off mucus from the nose (leads to an increase in the mucosal edema),
use in the usual (infectious) rhinitis, vasoconstrictive drops (nasol, sanorin, naphthyzine, and others - these drugs treat an allergic rhinitis). At first, the child feels relieved (mucus disappears), then the swelling of the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx starts, the snot does not flow, but it is difficult to breathe. Then a vicious circle is created - the child does not get better, but continue to drip. Vasodilating drops are used at bedtime, with a heavily stuffed nose !
What do you need to remember?
Rhinitis is the defense of the body. He himself will pass without consequences and quickly, if he does not interfere.
A few words about the physiological cold
If your little child does not have 2.5 months, and he has all the signs of a cold-snot, then this does not necessarily mean a serious illness. After all, in newborns, the mucous nasopharynx and nose begins to work only by week 10. And here the baby's organism first includes a "dry" condition in the nose, and then switches to "wet".
If for the baby this is a natural stage of development and becoming, then for the mother - the only reason is to be nervous, roll up the sleeves and take up the treatment. She does not know that at the moment when the excess moisture is generated by the nose, the organism of her baby should realize this and adapt. And she starts to interfere, blowing, washing, dripping drops, thereby does not allow to end in a logical way. After a while, moisture will again appear in large quantities.
Therefore, if your child suddenly has snot unaccompanied (there are no other symptoms of the disease) - know that this is a physiological runny nose.
What do we have to do:
- do not allow the mucous membrane to dry out, the room should have sufficient humidity and a temperature of about 18 degrees
- in the baby's nip to drip breast milk (1 or 2 drops 2-3 days).
You just have to wait. Now we know how to treat a runny nose in a child, but in any case, before applying this or that recipe, you need to consult a doctor. Good luck in the fight for dry noses!