Acute stenosing laryngotracheitis is the official name of the disease in which the larynx contracts, which manifests as a result of a viral infection. This disease has a second, more common name - false croup. Symptoms of it, as a rule, are manifested in the hoarseness of a voice, noisy breathing, "barking" cough, cyanosis of the lips and a constant restless state of the child.
As a rule, attacks of the disease occur at night, during the day, false croup does not bother. This is due to the fact that at night, under the ligaments, fiber swelling occurs due to blood flow to it. Usually, seizures can occur within two to three days, but sometimes the form of the disease becomes protracted.
False croup in adults is extremely rare, as a rule, this diagnosis is put to children. There is a logical explanation for this: the reason is the narrow lumen of the larynx in babies. As a result, edema in a child occurs much faster and causes serious consequences in the form of respiratory failure. In adults, there can only be true croup that accompanies diphtheria.
False croup, the symptoms of which can occur in children up to about six years old, is especially dangerous for children up to a year. During the disease, the cough intensifies, frequent spasms of the larynx appear .
As a rule, the child's condition is clear, he shows great anxiety, as a result of which cough and spasm intensify. The diagnosis of “false croup” at home can be made by examining the child's throat: there is no plaque on the tonsils, the cervical lymph nodes are not inflamed and not enlarged. Remember that false croup should not be confused with diphtheria, because it is in the treatment of these diseases using different methods and techniques. With the true croup, which is characteristic of diphtheria, there is no hoarseness of the voice and barking cough, but there is a raid on the tonsils.
It is important to provide first aid to the child when the false croup (the symptoms of which you already know how to distinguish) appeared at the initial stage. Doctors do not recommend giving any medications before their arrival, if you are not sure about the cause of the attack. If you know which allergen caused it, you can give an antihistamine. Allowed to give no-shpu, which relieves spasm. If the child’s breathing is difficult and occurs with a characteristic whistle, this is a sign of increasing swelling. You can’t leave the baby for a second, you need to lower the temperature in the room to 18 degrees, and bring the humidity to 70% (which is easy to do if there is air conditioning).
You can not put cans, soar legs and inhalation if the child has a false croup. His treatment is carried out, as a rule, in a hospital under the supervision of doctors. If the attack stopped during the provision of first aid to the child, you can not be sure that he will not repeat with renewed vigor. Before the doctors arrive, the child needs to be given a warm drink, you can clean your nose to make breathing easier (this is especially important between coughing attacks).
Remember that false croup, the symptoms of which depend on the severity of the attack, must be prevented. For this, the room where the child is sleeping should have an air humidity of about 65-70%, viral infections should be treated in a timely manner, allergic reactions, if they are present in the child, must be prevented by preventing the action of the allergen on the body. Also remember to regularly ventilate the room and to temper your baby.
In the treatment of false croup, in addition to taking medications and carrying out procedures that are prescribed by specialists, it is recommended that a special diet be observed. It includes regular intake of multivitamins and control over the intake of rutin, which is found in citrus fruits, black tea, apple peel and buckwheat flour.