Any coughing in a child, and even more so, is always alarming to parents, as often it is a symptom of a cold or other disease. In the article you will learn about the causes of a severe cough in a child, and how to treat it.
Cough and its types
Coughing is a reflex act, as a result of which foreign substances that interfere with normal breathing are actively removed from the respiratory tract. Distinguish between a physiological and pathological cough.
Ordinary for the body is a physiological cough. A healthy child can cough 10-20 times a day, especially in the morning. Thus, it liberates the bronchi from accumulated mucus, as well as particles of foreign bodies (dust, food) that have fallen into it. Crying in an infant may also be accompanied by a cough.
Regularly repeated and severe paroxysmal cough in a child is a symptom of a disease most often associated with respiratory organs.
The main diseases that cause a pathological cough are:
- infectious ( ARVI ) - in 90% of cases;
- allergic (allergen, unsatisfactory properties of air).
Infectious cough is accompanied by such additional symptoms:
- violation of the general condition of the child;
- temperature increase;
- acute onset of cough;
- specific signs of infectious diseases.
If the general condition is little disturbed, a prolonged cough is not accompanied by any other symptoms, but there have been some changes in the child's environment (plants, animals, new powder, etc.), it is likely allergic.
Because of the accumulation of excess mucus in the lungs, a cough appears in the child, with the help of which it is excreted from the body. The peculiarity of babies is that they have weak respiratory muscles, and it is more difficult for them to get rid of sputum than adults. Cough can also be divided into wet (sputum normally goes away) and dry (when this does not happen).
The most important thing in the treatment of a child is to ease cough and increase its effectiveness.
Treatment of a severe cough in a child
To cure cough in children, you need to contact a specialist who can make a picture of the disease, correctly diagnose and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Depending on the causes of the cough, the doctor can prescribe medications:
- from a cough - which suppress it;
- expectorant - increase the amount of sputum, cough may increase to remove mucus from the body.
These two types of drugs can not be used at the same time, as their actions can cause the child to worsen and provoke suffocation.
Cough preparations are prescribed only by the doctor in cases of diseases in which irritation of the cough center occurs, that is, if the child has an allergic cough or, for example, whooping cough - a very strong paroxysmal cough that leads to vomiting and redness of the skin.
If it is caused by an allergen, it is necessary first of all to determine what exactly causes it, and to stop contact with this substance or the situation. If a cough is caused by an infection, then the child, in addition to the basic treatment, needs to facilitate the withdrawal of sputum. Medication and procedural treatment must necessarily be prescribed by a doctor, since improper use of medicines can lead to poor health of your child and his hospitalization.
In any case, a dry or wet strong cough in a child, you need at home to adhere to the main effective measures for its treatment:
- breathe more often with clean, cool and moist air;
- Regularly ventilate and do a wet cleaning in the room;
- drink a large number of warm drinks (compote, milk, tea, Uzvar, broths of herbs).
With a dry cough, as this mucus is thick and difficult to cough, inhalation should also be done, after which it will be easier to move away. In foreign countries it is believed that the use of expectorants is no more effective than fresh moist air and plentiful drink.
It is necessary to consult a doctor on time and treat a child with a disease that causes a cough, so that later it does not lead to serious complications.