Most often, mothers ask a pediatrician for help with coughing in children. Parents are especially worried about a dry paroxysmal cough in a child, which causes the baby a lot of inconvenience. His painful and frequently occurring attacks day and night exhaust the child and worsen his condition.
Their repeated repetition causes irritation and injuries of the throat mucosa, which is manifested in painful sensations. Sometimes a dry and severe cough can cause minor hemorrhages, vomiting, and loss of consciousness. The task of parents is to alleviate the suffering of the child with a dry cough. It is necessary to reduce the inflammatory processes in the throat and thereby reduce the frequency of seizures.
Cough in children
Cough is a protective reaction of the body. With it, everything superfluous is pushed out of the respiratory tract - from foreign bodies to dust particles, germs and bacteria. A paroxysmal cough in a child occurs if peristalsis of the bronchi and ciliary epithelium can not provide cleansing of the respiratory tract. Without a cough, any inflammation of the airways would end in inflammatory processes in the lungs. The child should cough, but it is necessary that sputum is released. Such a cough is called productive or wet. All other species - paroxysmal, annoying, barking, dry - are not useful. They increase respiratory failure, cause muscle pain, vomiting, prevent sleep and lead the patient to a depressed state.
A dry cough in a child appears as a result of excitation of the nerve endings of the walls of the
trachea and bronchi. It is necessary to fight it, depending on the cause of its occurrence. All medicinal antitussives are divided into three groups:
- mucolytics, used to thin the sputum;
- expectorant, increasing the volume of mucus and contributing to the withdrawal of sputum;
- soothing - reducing the activity of the cough effect.
There are combined drugs that thin the mucus and contribute to its output. The task of medicines is to make a dry paroxysmal cough in a child wet.
Dry cough in infants
In newly born infants and children up to a year, the cough reflex may be completely absent (children with cerebral palsy and premature) or may be mild. The child is unable to cough up and displace the resulting mucus or foreign object from the respiratory tract. As a result, a nursing infant is choked with accumulated mucus and vomiting occurs. It is a protective function that allows you to remove accumulated sputum.
A paroxysmal cough in a child without signs of a disease that occurs in the morning, and sometimes in the afternoon (no more than 5 times), is normal. With its help, the airway is cleansed. You should carefully monitor the baby, but do not rush to give him medications.
How to recognize a dry cough?
The main symptom by which you can determine a dry cough is the sound source. A wet cough (with sputum or not) comes from the depths of the chest, and dry occurs directly in the larynx. Inflammation of her and pharynx causes tickling and tickling.
This gives rise to a coughing fit, which further injures the mucous membrane as a result of air currents. So, one coughing attack causes another, not relieving, but rather, exacerbating the condition of a sick baby. The next criterion that helps establish the type of cough is sound. A wet cough is accompanied by a dull and gurgling sound. Dry - nosad, loud, crackling, barking. A paroxysmal cough in a child without sputum does not restore his strength even at night.
Causes of Dry Cough
The appearance of dry cough in children occurs with the following diseases:
- Acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI). Dry cough usually appears at the onset of the disease. The upper respiratory tract affected by the virus becomes inflamed and swollen, and sore throat begins.
- Tracheitis, laryngitis, sometimes bronchitis. A paroxysmal cough in a child can be both at the beginning of the disease, and at the end, and sometimes it continues after the end of the disease. Individual obsessive coughing can last more than a month after removing the acute form.
- Infectious diseases for children (pertussis, measles, flu, diphtheria).
- Allergic reactions to various irritants (odors, dust, pollen, medications).
The child has a dry paroxysmal cough. What to do?
Coughing is not a sign of any one disease, therefore, to make a diagnosis it is necessary to find out all the reasons for its appearance:
- Parents need to consult with their doctor and follow his recommendations.
- When buying medicines, it must be borne in mind that it is much more difficult for children to swallow tablets and capsules than solutions, syrups and elixirs. A single dose is selected according to the age or weight of the child. Many liquid preparations are equipped with measuring spoons or cups, so they are conveniently dosed.
- It is important to read the instructions before buying a medicine. You should pay attention to how old and how long you can use the drug, what contraindications and side effects it has.
- Observance of the general rules by parents is also necessary, namely, to create calm conditions for the child, increase fluid intake, and humidify the air.
How to treat a dry paroxysmal cough in a child?
There are a number of areas in the treatment of dry persistent cough:
- Often it is the result of a lesion in the upper respiratory tract virus, so doctors, along with other medicines, prescribe antiviral agents. Their effectiveness in this case has no evidence.
- Irritation and inflammation of the laryngeal mucosa can be removed with warm milk, honey and butter. They do not completely relieve cough, but the softening effect soothes a cough for some period of time, giving the child a little rest. Warm drinking plenty of fluids will help reduce intoxication and reduce the frequency of coughing attacks. Sour fruit drinks and fruit juices irritate the mucosa, therefore it is better not to use them.
- How to treat a paroxysmal cough in a child? There are lozenges for resorption that have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. They reduce inflammation, suppress the cough reflex. When using them, the age of the child must be taken into account. Lollipops must be dissolved in order to get the proper effect, and young children often swallow them.
- Taking drugs that inhibit cough, acting at a central level, quickly improves the condition of babies. Suppression of dry cough does not lead to negative consequences, since with it there is no sputum and its stagnation does not form. Getting the medicine before bedtime, the child can safely fall asleep and sleep.
What can not be treated dry cough?
Parents need to remember:
- Do not treat the child at the same time for wet and dry cough. The cough reflex is suppressed, and the amount of sputum increases and the airways are not cleared.
- Ointments and rubbing with a smell should be used with caution. The inflamed mucous membrane can be irritated by aromas and cause another coughing fit.
- Do not use mustard plasters, they can do harm.
- With prolonged cough, re-show the child to the doctor. This may be a sign of asthma or heart and rheumatic diseases.
What is the danger of prolonged dry cough?
A paroxysmal cough in a child without fever does not always signal serious health problems, but if it lasts for a long time, you should consult a doctor. Inflammation can go into a chronic form, which is difficult to treat, and sometimes impossible. The absence of fever can also indicate serious diseases (pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer). Untreated treatment can lead to serious problems.
Reasons for the lack of temperature
They are very different and are divided into three groups:
- Allergic reactions.
- External factors.
- Internal diseases.
It will not be possible to find out the cause on their own, you can only make assumptions for some symptoms. So, a morning cough may indicate bronchitis. Tuberculosis, rhinitis and sinusitis cause coughing at night. Frequent coughing with food - oncology of the stomach or throat. Although these cases are quite rare, it’s not worth the risk. In any case, you must consult a doctor. Only a blood test and additional examinations can make the correct diagnosis. And depending on the disease, treatment will be prescribed.
Signs of a dangerous disease
Sometimes, instead of coughing, a child can only hear wheezing and whistling. In this case, you must immediately consult a doctor. A barking cough indicates a serious illness:
- laryngitis and pharyngitis cause severe inflammation of the larynx and throat;
- false croup is very dangerous, vocal cords and larynx swell.
A dry cough may indicate that the child has false croup. The most common cause is a viral infection. The disease occurs as a complication after infectious diseases of influenza, parainfluenza, SARS, pharyngitis.
Signs by which you can determine the ailment:
- barking cough;
- hoarse voice;
- wheezing difficulty.
With false croup, swelling of the vocal cords occurs, the movement of air into the respiratory tract is disturbed, and the child suffocates.
What to do:
- quickly call an ambulance;
- a doctor will make breathing easier with drugs;
- inpatient treatment is required.
Foreign body in the airways
A paroxysmal cough before vomiting in a child can occur when a foreign body enters the respiratory tract. Various small items that kids use when playing and take them into their mouths may fall into the larynx. The strength of a cough is determined by the location and size of the foreign object. The child develops cyanosis near the nose and mouth, there is a lack of air, a strong cough and vomiting, and breathing becomes difficult. Signs may appear and disappear.
Alien bodies of small sizes when inhaled fall into the bronchi. At the same time, at the beginning, everything goes away asymptomatically, only with time does inflammation form there that cannot be treated. When a larger object hits, cyanosis occurs, breathing quickens, the child becomes inhibited or motor activity occurs, may lose consciousness, convulsions appear. Urgent assistance is needed.
Psychogenic cough
Cough in children older than three years of age can occur due to a violation of the activity of the nervous system department that regulates the respiratory system. In stressful situations, high emotional and physical stress, the child develops a dry paroxysmal cough before vomiting. A psychogenic cough with seizures is formed in children from 3 to 7 years old. Then the seizures are repeated if the child falls into an unusual situation. They begin in the daytime and end at night. Sometimes such a cough appears in emotional children, especially in adolescence. In special situations, they are overcome by a dry cough, shortness of breath and hiccups appear.
Folk remedies for dry cough
Paroxysmal cough in a child? What to do? Traditional medicine can help with the treatment of such a cough in children of any age, here are a few recipes:
- Milk with honey. In the absence of an allergic reaction to honey, you can use this medicine. Twice a day, give the child a glass of warm milk in which a teaspoon of honey is dissolved.
- Brew tea with mint leaves, add a slice of lemon and drink warm throughout the day.
- Pass the tangerine peel through a meat grinder and prepare an infusion. Drink two tablespoons before meals.
- Black radish juice infuse with honey. Take a teaspoon three times a day.
- Insist anise seeds (2 tsp) in a glass of hot water. Drink a few sips before each meal.
Folk remedies can not completely eliminate the problem of dry cough, but will ease the patient's condition.
An attempt to self-treatment even without the temperature of a dry paroxysmal cough in a child can lead to sad consequences. And the use of drugs without prescribing and observing the attending physician is dangerous for the baby's health.