To understand how to deal with green nasal mucus in children, you must first find out the root cause of its appearance. Most parents begin to worry, even if the child has a transparent secret, although such discharge does not pose a threat to his health. Another thing is the appearance of thick snot with green spots. Such a sign means that a bacterial infection has joined the common cold.
To eliminate unpleasant nasal discharge and nasal congestion, treatment should be started immediately to avoid possible complications. Doctors quite often prescribe drops from green snot for children with a cold.
Causes of nasal discharge in babies
Green mucus indicates that microbes have joined the inflammatory process: Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus aureus. Such a muconasal secret often occurs at the end of a cold. You can understand that the child is recovering according to the main symptoms - the snot begins to easily come out of the sinuses, they become fewer, the baby has an appetite and overall health improves.
But if there are a lot of green secretions, the child cannot blow their nose, they flow all the time, have an unpleasant odor, and also contain impurities of pus and blood, then most likely we are talking about a bacterial complication of the common cold. It is necessary to take measures if on the 5th day of a cold, the baby's health worsens, new signs appear: sore throat or ear, severe cough. Drops in the nose of children with green snot will help in this case to improve the condition and recover faster.
There may be nasal discharge of a greenish tint for various reasons. Consider below some diseases that provoke their appearance.
Snot of this shade can occur with otitis media. Since in young children the Eustachian tube, which connects the nasopharynx and the middle ear cavity, is wide and short, the discharge can easily penetrate the hearing organ and provoke an inflammatory process of a bacterial nature in it. Such a disease is a frequent complication of rhinitis in babies.
Sinusitis also causes the secretion of a greenish tint in a child. Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the sinuses, as a rule, is accompanied by congestion, fever, night cough, purulent discharge, and also a headache.
With sinusitis, the following symptoms still appear:
- swelling of the gums;
- soreness in the maxillary sinuses;
- pain in the nape and parietal part of the head (sphenoiditis);
- pain between the eyebrows (frontal sinusitis);
- discomfort in the nose (ethmoiditis).
Green snot observed even with rhinopharyngitis. If you do not treat a runny nose, posterior rhinitis may occur . With this disease, the muconasal secret, flowing down the throat, irritates it, resulting in inflammation of the mucosa. In this case, a small patient has pain and burning sensation in the throat, and snot is difficult to wash out and blow out. In the morning and night hours cough and runny nose begin to torment. Such a disease must be treated in order to prevent negative consequences for the child's body.
Why are green nasal discharge dangerous?
If nothing is done with such a runny nose, then the disease will turn into a chronic form. Getting rid of advanced rhinitis is much harder. For this reason, if a baby, especially infants, has green nasal mucus, they should start treatment as soon as possible. In infants, immunity is lowered and the nasal passages are very narrow, since the nasal septum has not yet formed.
Drops with green snot in a child help to avoid many complications, because if you do not take any therapeutic measures, frontal sinusitis or sinusitis will develop. Pathology data indicate that inflammation began to spread upward. A stuffy nose can sometimes cause meningitis in babies.
When the infection moves down, the lungs and bronchi suffer. That is why thick green snot, accompanied by poor health and high temperature, require urgent treatment. It is necessary to visit or call a doctor at home, self-medication with such symptoms is unacceptable.
What drops with green snot can a child use?
Inflammation when bacteria enter the body provokes swelling of the nasal mucosa. Because of this, in a small patient, thick green secretions begin to accumulate all the time, which make breathing difficult. After finding out the exact cause of their appearance, you can proceed to treatment. During the treatment of the common cold, they resort to various measures:
- washing;
- taking antibiotics (in complex and advanced cases);
- recipes of traditional medicine.
In addition, sprays and drops from green snot are used for children. But before proceeding with treatment, you should first well clean the nasal cavity from viscous secretions. In order for the green mucus in the baby to come out naturally without laying ears, it is necessary to properly perform a blow-out.
The handkerchief must be clean, it must be distributed over the arm. Then it is applied to the sinuses, while the right nostril is pinched, and through the left - a strong exhalation is made. Then you should let go of the right nasal opening, close the left and blow your nose.
Nose wash procedure
Nevertheless, it is not always possible to get rid of the snot in this way, since the discharge may be too thick or the baby is still small to blow its own nose. In this case, it is better to rinse. The right way to clean your nose will help you quickly get rid of green mucus in a child.
Nasal lavage is good for self-treatment and before using drugs. But such procedures in a small patient must be carried out carefully. Therefore, if in doubt, it is better to entrust the flushing to medical workers by visiting the clinic.
Tips for choosing a cold medicine
After cleansing the airways, you can proceed to the use of drugs. Drops from green snot for children are prescribed only by a qualified doctor after the implementation of diagnostic measures. After all, with the wrong choice of the drug there is a risk of developing such dangerous complications as eustacheitis, otitis media and sinusitis. Varieties of tools that are suitable for eliminating rhinitis in babies:
- Medicines with antiseptic properties.
- Antibiotics (local action).
- Vasoconstrictor drops.
- Preparations based on seawater.
How to instill medicine in a child?
If drops from green snot for children are used to relieve puffiness, the small patient should be lying down. A little means should be pipetted into one of the external nasal openings. During this, the child should throw his head back in the same direction, lifting it slightly. At the end of this procedure, you need to leave the baby to lie down for about 7 minutes, so that the medicine can get into the maxillary sinuses and into the nasal canals. This rule plays an important role, especially when drops are used for nasal congestion.
Subject to the technology of instillation, breathing in a small patient will quickly recover. The constant effect of drugs on the sinus region is an excellent prevention of fluid stagnation in them and the development of sinusitis. When using a spray to treat a baby from green snot, during injection he should stand or sit, bending his head in the opposite direction from the nasal opening into which the medicine is administered. This will prevent particles of the drug from entering the auditory tube.
Drops with sea water
Before eliminating rhinitis and nasal congestion in babies with drugs, you must first rinse the nasal cavity well. Today, for such purposes, special solutions are sold that help clean out the green discharge from the nasal canals. These drugs include:
- Humer;
- "Aqualor";
- "Aquamaris".
It is additionally desirable to treat the baby's nasal cavity with normal saline. Such a tool can be bought or made independently. In this case, the concentration of the solution should not be higher than 0.09%.
Vasoconstrictor drugs
These nasal drops for children from green snot are recommended to be used only when nasal congestion is present. For babies up to a year, Xylometazoline can be used. Older children are allowed to use Nafazolin drops, and starting from the age of three, they are allowed to treat the runny nose with Oxymethazolin.
Such drugs quickly eliminate swelling, relieve nasal congestion and narrow vessels, but have some contraindications. Vasoconstrictor drops can negatively affect the baby's vessels and cause addiction. They are prescribed in severe cases to alleviate the main symptoms of the disease. It should be borne in mind that such drugs are not suitable for periodic use. For the treatment of thick green mucus in children, they also use:
- "Naphthyzine";
- Otrivin;
- "Tizin";
- "Nazivin."
Good drops from green snot for children antibacterial action
When choosing antibacterial agents, the severity of the disease, the age of the child, individual tolerance and the pathogenic pathogen are taken into account. Children with the appearance of green mucus from the nose are prescribed the following drugs:
- Drops in the nose "Polydex" are designed to reduce the number of snot. They relieve swelling of the mucosa and kill harmful bacteria. Such an agent has anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. But it is allowed to use only children over 15 years old (although sometimes doctors prescribe earlier).
- "Isofra" in the form of a nasal spray. The medicine has a bactericidal and antimicrobial effect. Therapy with this drug should be carried out in combination with other means.
Antiseptic Drops
Such drugs are used when a purulent-mucous secretion appears in a child. Before deciding which drops from green snot a child should use in the treatment of the common cold, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with such medicines as:
- Miramistin;
- "Sulfacyl sodium";
- Decamethoxin;
- "Chlorophyllipt";
- "Protargol."
The above drugs have an antimicrobial effect against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. But they should be used only as directed by the doctor. Drops from green snot to a child at 3 years old (and at any other age) can not be used uncontrollably. Otherwise, you can provoke drying out and even cause a burn of the mucous membrane, in addition, reduce local immunity.
Treatment of a common cold in a child with folk remedies
Herbal solutions often help get rid of nasal secretions. In this case, the baby must be given more liquid to drink, for example, tea with blackcurrant, as well as with lemon and honey. In addition, you can prepare drops from green snot:
- A child at 2 years old should make a mixture of yarrow and calendula. Raw materials are poured with water and boiled for 25 minutes. The resulting solution perform nose washing several times a day.
- To eliminate thick discharge, it is recommended to use parsley. Freshly squeezed juice of the root of this herb is instilled into each nostril. They are treated in this way until the mucus becomes smaller.
Despite the fact that alternative medicine is safe, it is better to consult a pediatrician before using it.