Causes of cough in children

The "utility" of the cough is that it clears the lungs of irritants or foreign bodies.

Each child sometimes coughs up , and parents usually do not bother until coughing becomes permanent, starts to interfere with it. Concern may be caused by the following additional symptoms:

Attacks of a "deep" cough are often associated with the fact that a lot of mucus or other secretions accumulated in the respiratory system.

This is usually caused by an infection or an airway disease;

dry short recurrent cough sometimes portends asthma;

cough with spasms or coughing with convulsions may indicate pneumonia;

coughing is often caused by muscle or nerve impairment;

fever and weakness together with a cough - one of the symptoms of pneumonia;

with a temperature of 38.4 ° C or even lower;

tonsillitis;coryza.

the above symptoms last more than one day;

temperature exceeds 38.4 ° C;

the child's ears hurt;

it is difficult for a child to breathe;

cough accompanied by chest pain;The

cough is accompanied by a whistle or other unusual sound;

cough is constant and exhausts the child with small indulgences between attacks;

in saliva or mucus contains blood;

symptoms you are not familiar with or may indicate that the child is seriously ill, for example, pneumonia.

chest pain with a cough or fits of asthma indicate the presence of a foreign body( eg, food) in the respiratory tract.

As you can see, cough is associated with many diseases. Therefore, to help your doctor maximize, it is important to closely monitor the child and remember more signs and symptoms.

Possible causes of

Cough often accompanies infectious diseases. Other causes of coughing may be exposure to smoke, tuberculosis, cystic lung disease, tumors, birth defects of the trachea or heart disease. Recently, in connection with the spread among adolescents of smoking cough becomes a constant companion to the lives of young people.

Upper respiratory tract infection

The upper respiratory tract includes the throat, nose and upper part of the bronchi. When infected with infection, there is abundant secretion of mucus. This also applies to cold or virus. Accompanying symptoms may be a runny nose, fever, tonsillitis and ear pain. Usually the disease is limited in time a few days, and the children recover without serious medical intervention.

Infection of the lower respiratory tract

These diseases include viral and bacterial pneumonia. When pneumonia is often observed, fever, difficulty breathing and excessive weakness. Other infections of the lower respiratory tract include bronchial inflammation( flowing with low fever, wheezing and coughing) and whooping cough( with fever, coughing, red face, swelling of the eyes and convulsive cough).Pertussis can be cured in about eight weeks. Immunization can completely prevent the disease or at least minimize its symptoms.

With tonsillitis and other symptoms( a runny nose, watery eyes, a little fever, malaise, loss of appetite, burning under the sternum, especially after a cough), a disease commonly known as laryngotraheobronchitis( or simply bronchitis) can begin. With the development of the disease there is a frequent short cough and, finally, shortness of breath.

Foreign bodies in the respiratory tract

Swallowing uneaten food or inedible objects can lead to coughing( sometimes to chest pains) and to shortness of breath.

Croup

It is characterized by a number of consecutive symptoms. First there is a sonorous cough with a losing and reappearing loud hoarse breath( stridor).A few days before the appearance of a cough, an infection of the upper respiratory tract is usually noted. At the second stage of the disease, the metallic cough is worse. The child's crying will be weak, often the child can not speak at all. At the third stage, general weakness appears, breathing remains difficult. After a week, the symptoms begin to subside. The disease is most often observed in children from three months to five years and may appear in the child several times.

If a cough is accompanied by itching in the chin, chest or neck, this may indicate an approaching asthma attack. In addition, asthmatics cough after physical exertion or by inhaling cold air. Their breathing is shallow. Patients often sigh, often with speech difficulties due to lack of air. Usually, dry cough is noted at night, because in this case the dynamics of the airways usually decreases. As the asthma attack develops, wheezing or shortness of breath may occur, excessive mucus is formed.

The most important thing is to know how often your child has any symptoms associated with a cough. In this case, parents can immediately determine the initial stage of the disease without delay.

Here are some treatment options for common forms of cough:

• warm lemonade sweetened with honey can help children over one year old( honey is dangerous for younger children because it contains botulism spores that can cause a child's disease);

• to calm the cough at night or at school, the doctor may prescribe medications containing dextro-methorphan;

antihistamines are not needed, unless the baby has a stuffy nose due to an allergic reaction;

• multifunctional cough medicines usually do not help and can have an undesirable effect( eg, excessive drying of mucus or dizziness);

• Avoid medicinal grinding of the breast. They are not only useless, but they can be harmful.

Expectorants

For dry, painful cough, use potions of alteic root with sodium hydrogencarbonate( althaea root extract from 2g per 100 ml, sodium hydrogen carbonate 2g, sugar syrup 10ml - 1 teaspoonful 4-6 times a day).

As an expectorant, use the chest collection from the root of the crushed marshmallow and leaves of mother-and-stepmother chopped( 2 parts), herb oregano ground( 1 part).One tablespoon of the collection is filled with a glass of boiling water, insist 20 minutes, filter, take 1-2 teaspoons 2-3 times a day( after eating);mother-and-stepmother( 1 tablespoon pour a glass of boiling water, 10 minutes insist, cool, strain, drink 1 teaspoon 3-4 times a day);infusion of herbs thermopsis-0.1 g per 100 ml, children under 2 years 1 / 2_1 teaspoon 3 times a day;droplets of ammonia and anise - 1 drop per year of the child's life at the reception 2-3 times a day;pertussin 1/2 teaspoon 3 times a day. Distracting therapy( mustard wraps and mustard)

As a distraction therapy, mustard wraps the chest. To do this, take 1-2 tablespoons of dry mustard and dilute it in a bowl of warm water, close the bowl with a lid or diaper and put in a warm place for 20 minutes. After the appearance of a sharp odor, irritating the mucous membrane of the nose and eyes, the mustard is ready. In a basin, take 1 liter of hot water and pour the mustard from the bowl( or vice versa, pour 1 liter of hot water into a bowl of mustard), stir and fold the folded three-fold diaper. Then the diaper is wrung out, quickly wraps the baby's chest and back. Over the diaper, moistened with hot water and mustard, wrap the baby with a dry diaper and a bikini blanket. After 5-15 minutes.(depends on the freshness of the mustard) redness appears on the skin, the child begins to worry. If there is no redness on the skin, you can leave the mustard wrap for 20-30 minutes.and more. Then quickly wash the child, wipe dry, put on and cover the heat.

To small children, who fell ill with acute respiratory disease, effectively a common mustard wrap - a tablespoon of mustard per glass of water. The diaper, moistened with mustard, wraps the whole body from neck to toe( a diaper is put in the crotch, if the child has diaper rash, they are protected with gauze pads).

When coughing on the chest, you can put ready-made mustard plasters, previously immersed in water for 5-10 seconds( water temperature - 40-45 ° C).Mustards keep 7-10 minutes.

For colds, coughs, and infectious respiratory diseases, foot warm baths are useful - lower the legs of a child in a bucket of water at a temperature of 37-37.5 ° C, and then pour hot water to keep the temperature throughout the procedure 39-40 ° C. Durationbath - 10 minutes. The child must be warmly wrapped. After the bath, go to bed. The same baths should also be done to a teenager, if he is sick, he has a fever, a cough.

Parents whose children have repeatedly suffered from pneumonia or other serious respiratory diseases are well versed in the types of cough accompanied by fever or chest pain. If you have reason to believe that a child is seriously ill, it is better to call a doctor right away.

Some diseases cause a cough in a few days or even weeks after they have passed. For example, cough due to a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract can last up to three months after the end of the infection. Consult a doctor if the coughing continues for too long. Have, however, in mind that an ongoing cough can be a natural phase of the disease. If the child is in contact with a tubercular patient, it is necessary to inform the doctor about it.

One of the traditionally used cough suppressants are the banks. You should put banks carefully so as not to frighten the child. Six cans are placed on either side of the spine on the back( between the spine and the shoulder blades).Another bank is put under the shoulder blades. Remove the banks after 7-10 minutes. Then the skin is carefully wiped, the child is dressed, well concealed and left in bed. When placing cans, consider the age of the child, its condition, the presence of skin diseases, the tendency to bleed

Air humidifiers

Recently, devices such as air humidifiers have become widespread. It is recommended to use only ultrasonic humidifiers, and only if the air in the child's room is dry. These devices should be cleaned regularly and do not dissolve any medications. Especially effective in cereals. Good help in such cases is also regular exposure to strong steam. Try to fill the bathroom or shower with steam and put the baby in this environment.

The doctor will analyze the history of this case of a child's illness, as well as previous cases. He will conduct a general physical examination of the child, including listening to the child coughing. Then, using a stethoscope, he will check the child's breathing.

If there is a suspicion of bacterial pneumonia or other serious lung disease, the doctor will suggest a complete blood test and a skin test for tuberculosis. If the child is older, the doctor may offer to do a saliva test. He can suggest chest radiography, but usually radiography is not required to diagnose pneumonia in pre-school and school-age children. The doctor may recommend doing other studies - sweat analysis and sinus radiography( if the child has a heavily stuffy nose or a painful face when coughing).Treatment may include penicillin, erythromycin, or amoxicillin.

An occasional cough without other accompanying symptoms usually does not cause concern to the parents. In such cases, they have the right to wait for several hours to wait and see. If the cough lasts a day or two or more, you need to inform the doctor about it.

Usually, even the most serious cough and accompanying symptoms can be cured quickly if you immediately call your doctor or take your child to him. If the doctor is not nearby( for example, you are on vacation) and there are serious symptoms, the nearest emergency room is the best place to treat and receive the necessary medications.