Treatment of a strong wet cough in a child Komarovsky. Komarovsky child’s cough does not go away for a long time

Healthy and happy children are what every mother dreams of. How smaller baby, the more difficult it is for him to endure various diseases due to the unformed nervous, muscular, immune systems body. Viruses, bacterial pathogens, allergens, infections can become a source of illness. The wisdom of Mother Nature is so great that with various symptoms the body hints to doctors and parents about the causes of problems. What does this indicate? wet cough in a child and how dangerous is it?

Causes of wet cough in a child

A cough is an increased exhalation through the mouth caused by irritating receptors respiratory tract factors. The physiological processes that occur during this process are reduction muscle tissue larynx, increased muscle tone of the bronchial system, tension abdominal muscles- are reflexive. The cough reflex is unconditional and acts as a protective function of the body, allowing it to eliminate foreign bodies, other irritating objects.

The presence of a wet cough in a child in most cases is not a dangerous symptom that threatens life and health in general. Doctors call this type of mucus expectoration productive: the muscles of the bronchial tree contract, getting rid of interfering foreign bodies - sputum, dust particles, allergens. Pulmonologists and pediatricians insist that neither wet nor dry cough can be treated! It is necessary to identify the cause of the occurrence and act on it.

So, the reasons for the productive removal of sputum in a child are:

• Colds, viral and other diseases.
  1. Various respiratory tract infections.
  2. Bacterial complications.
  3. Bronchial asthma.
  4. Chronic diseases.
  5. Oncology.
• Allergy.
• Runny nose or snot.
• Physiological reasons (often found in infants when milk enters the respiratory tract).
• Teething. From 8 months, most babies begin to have their first teeth. Excessive salivation, inflammation of the mucous membranes become “provocateurs”.

In what cases should the appearance of a wet cough in a child prompt an emergency response from parents and the presence and supervision of a doctor:

• Child's age (1 year). A wet cough in an infant is dangerous due to the underdevelopment of body systems and the inability to cough effectively. While the baby cannot sit up, phlegm accumulates in the bronchi. A wet, gurgling cough can lead to vomiting and cause breathing problems.
• Having a temperature above 38 for three or more days.
• Sudden prolonged attacks The child has.
• Presence of shortness of breath with frequency:
  • more often than 60 breaths – for infants up to 3 months;
  • more than 50 breaths per minute - in a one-year-old child;
  • from 40 or more breaths in a child aged 2 years and older.
• The presence of wheezing, whistling cough, or barking may indicate pneumonia that occurs without fever or be a bacteriological complication of an untreated viral infection.
• When a child’s copious sputum has a greenish tint; admixture of blood; reddish in color.
• Persistent wet cough in children 3 years of age and older, accompanied by decreased/loss of appetite; lethargy; drowsiness.

Folk remedies for cough with phlegm

When treating with a variety of methods, one should focus on the age of the child and the nature of the disease. The absence of fever and lack of appetite, accompanied by a wet cough after an illness, should not cause acute concern for parents. Babies under one year old require special attention and care. If your baby develops a cough, be sure to call a doctor at home! Severe attacks, up to vomiting, can be provoked by:

• Whooping cough stick. This is one of the few cases when a cough goes away after taking medications that inhibit the cough center in the brain. Self-medication is strictly prohibited, and to make a diagnosis through laboratory tests it is necessary to confirm the presence of whooping cough in the child’s body.
• Laryngeal stenosis (laryngotracheitis). In this case, call immediately ambulance: You and your baby will need hospitalization! While you are waiting for the doctor, fill the bathroom with hot water after closing the door. Keep your baby in a humid, warm microclimate, trying to calm him down as much as possible.

Other cases of wet cough in infants under one year of age, as well as in older children and adolescents, can be easily treated with physiotherapy - inhalations, massage chest; breathing exercises; light physical loads; spending time in the fresh air. Let's take a closer look at how to quickly get rid of a wet cough.

Inhalations

An excellent means of “transforming” a cough from dry to wet, affecting the upper respiratory tract with warm air, essential oils, saturated vapors soda, salt, iodine are inhalations. Do you remember from childhood how to treat colds “breathe over boiled potatoes”? So, our grandmothers and mothers were right: warm air, warming the trachea and nasopharynx, thins the mucus, improving motor function ciliated epithelium. This method is ideal for those who have phlegm accumulating in the throat and upper tract.

Modern medicine, for the convenience of children and parents, suggests using special inhalers:

• Cheaper and simpler versions are represented by a bath and a tube with nozzles.
• A nebulizer is a medical device for use at home. By inhaling aerosolized liquids (medicines, soda water, etc.), the child's viscous sputum is perfectly liquefied.

Expectorant massage

Chest massage performed at home by parents or a specialist is effective in relieving the child of a wet cough. Light tapping movements; wide sweeping strokes with pressure on the chest, performed from top to bottom; kneading and pinching will increase blood flow to the bronchi and lungs, stimulating the thinning of mucus and the removal of phlegm.

Other effective remedies

Herbal decoctions and berry tinctures have long been known as effective means of relieving a child of a cough. To turn a dry cough into a wet one, brew 4 tbsp in 0.5 liters of water. breast collection. Rosehip tincture (100 g of dry berries per liter of water) will improve tone, saturating the body with vitamin C; Linden decoction will strengthen the expectorant component, thinning the sputum; chamomile tea, being natural antiseptic, will help get rid of bacteria and viruses faster.

Good for children in the treatment of wet cough breathing exercises. Helps relax the cough center, reduces the frequency of urges, and helps normalize the functioning of the ciliated epithelium of the respiratory organs. To improve lung function by “pumping” larger volumes of air, buy inflatable balloons for your child. By combining the game with breathing procedures when inflating the latter, you will help your baby.

Expectorant medications

The list of expectorants for “getting” a productive cough in a child is divided into 2 groups:

• Medications that thin phlegm.
• Drugs that improve the removal of mucus from the bronchi and lungs.

The form of the drug - tablets, mixture or syrup - depends on the age of the child. All medicines are divided into natural and synthetic. The advantages of the former include the minimum of chemical additives that the child’s body, weakened by the disease, will receive when ingested. The downside is the body’s unpredictable reaction to natural ingredients: allergies sometimes lead to an increase in wet cough and attacks.

Syrup

Mothers of small children, when thinking about what to give their child, should pay attention to chemical dyes and additives that improve the taste of syrups: they can cause allergies, causing an increase in the cough reflex. The pharmaceutical syrups are:

• Reflex effects on the respiratory system:
  1. Alteyka;
  2. Pectolvan ivy;
  3. Stoptussin Phyto syrup;
  4. Bronchicum et al.
• Resorptive action, improving mucus secretion:
  1. Amtersol;
  2. Ambroxol;
  3. Carbocysteine.

potion

Dry medicine for children is a medicine combined action, relieves wet cough, normalizes the activity of cilia of the bronchial epithelium. Refers to natural herbal remedies and is indicated for children with infancy. It is taken orally in liquid form: the powder is diluted with boiled water in the proportions indicated on the package insert. Exceeding the dosage is not permissible!

Pills

Tablet form medicines More suitable for middle-aged and older children. The tablets contain less dyes, and in terms of their effect on wet cough indicators, they are as effective for the child as syrups and mixtures. A small list of expectorant drugs:

• Mukaltin;
• Sinupret;
• Cough tablets;
• Eucabalus et al.

How to treat a wet cough without fever according to Komarovsky

Children's cough often occurs due to viral/bacterial damage to the body (ARVI, bronchitis, laryngitis, snot, etc.) or due to a violation of optimal individual child living conditions (dust, mold, dry air, etc.). Methods and means of treating wet cough depend on the causes of the disease, the age of the child and the course of the disease. How to cure sputum in a child?

Collect yourself and calm down, and then take a number of measures aimed at:

• facilitating the coughing process, helping to thin out thick, sticky mucus;
• creating indoor humidity up to 60-70%;
• ensuring the absence of allergens, even if the child is not allergic;
• stop taking medications if a wet, productive cough appears;
• a categorical ban on taking antitussive medications (with the exception of whooping cough, croup) for a wet cough.

What to do if sputum does not come out

If a child’s wet cough turns into a dry one, you need to understand the reasons:

1. Taking cough suppressants disables the natural reflexes of clearing the airways. Taken independently, not as directed, they can turn a child’s wet, productive cough into a barking dry one. The solution is to stop taking medications drinking plenty of fluids, taking mucolytic drugs.
2. Taking antibiotics for ARVI, or the mutually exclusive use of certain medications, can cause the formation of a dry cough, although at the initial stage the child had a wet one.
3. After a short-term improvement after a cold, the transformation of a wet cough into a dry one indicates that the infection has settled in lower paths respiratory or about the addition of bacterial damage to the body. In this case, an immediate visit to the doctor is required!

Video: Doctor Komarovsky about a child’s wet cough

A wet cough in a child is not always an indicator of the presence of a disease. He is considered normal physiological process, if during the day your baby coughs up to 10-15 times. This is how local immunity reacts to interactions with viruses, dust, and bacteria. Coughing in the morning in children indicates that the nasopharynx is drying out during sleep, and the airways are trying to get rid of the mucus that has accumulated during the night. Find out how parents should behave if their child has a wet cough by watching our video:

Residual cough in a child - how to treat it. Quick relief from residual cough in a child

Treatment colds left behind, but can't get rid of your cough? The mucous membrane of the respiratory tract in a child recovers slowly after an acute respiratory viral infection and, along with a weakened immune system, an unpleasant residual cough appears. How dangerous is this to health and how to cure a child’s cough?

Why does residual cough occur in children?

Curing a viral infection, bronchitis, pneumonia is only the first step on the path to recovery. A child’s body, weakened by illness, especially after taking antibiotics, needs time to recover. And all this time, the sensitive bronchi use the most common protective mechanism - coughing, which prevents the airways from becoming clogged with phlegm, mucus or pus. Therefore, parents need to know the causes, symptoms and how to properly treat residual cough in a child.

Causes

A persistent cough in a child after suffering from a respiratory tract disease is more likely to be normal rather than a rare occurrence. It takes the baby’s body some time to recover and develop immunity. The viruses remaining after the illness are no longer so strong, but still continue to irritate the bronchi and trachea, causing a residual cough, which, when proper therapy should go away in two to three weeks. Among other reasons when a child has a severe cough without fever:

• relapse of an inflammatory or infectious disease;
• reaction of the respiratory tract to contact with cold air, excessive physical activity;
• allergies to dust, pet hair, cigarette smoke;
• foreign body;
• stress, nervousness;
• A rare stomach disease is gastroesophageal reflux.

Symptoms

A situation when there is a feeling that the cold is not going to go away and the child does not stop coughing for a long time should alert parents. At this moment, using some signs, you need to be able to determine where the new disease began, and where the baby has stopped getting sick and is only susceptible to residual effects. The most common symptoms of a persistent cough:

• periodic manifestation of a residual phenomenon, when the cough itself is shallow, there is no sputum, more often appears in the morning;
• there is no fever, snot, intoxication or other signs of a cold;
• within three weeks after completing the course of therapy, the cough becomes less intense and rare;
• The baby’s immune system, recovering, weakens the cough and copes with it, even without treatment.

When is a child’s cough dangerous after an illness?

A situation that should cause concern is when a child has a loud cough that does not go away for a month, a fever develops, or the child complains of pain. You must be able to distinguish any of these symptoms from residual effects and, if you suspect it, contact your pediatrician so that your baby can undergo additional examination. What are the dangers of prolonged or persistent cough in children? This may hide the development of chronic bronchitis, whooping cough, pneumonia, or a chest injury that makes inhalation and exhalation painful, and tuberculosis may begin. In these cases, serious medical attention is required.

How to treat residual cough

If you are sure that these are residual effects after suffering from acute respiratory viral infection or any other viral infection, then drug treatment may not be needed. After a few weeks, the functioning of the respiratory organs will normalize, the mucous membrane will clear and the residual cough will go away, if you ventilate the room often, do wet cleaning, use an ultrasonic humidifier. Then how to treat residual cough in a child? I can quickly get rid of an obsessive cough using folk remedies, inhalations, and in special cases, taking medications.

Drug treatment

In order for the baby's airways to quickly clear the phlegm or mucus that accumulates during a cold, a therapy program to eliminate residual effects may include taking medications. According to the nature of the cough and overall assessment condition of the child’s body, the pediatrician will prescribe thinning (dry cough) or expectorant (wet cough) agents or drugs with spasmodic or enveloping properties. The following help reduce irritation of the mucous membrane and cope with residual effects:

Folk remedies

If a child coughs a lot, then the conspiracy is unlikely to help influence the process. Among folk remedies there are others healthy recipes which help remove dry frequent cough in a child with the help of decoctions, foods prepared in a special way, compresses. How to cure residual cough in a child using traditional methods:

• A warm drink made with milk, and this product is combined with honey, soda, butter, figs, goat fat, mineral water. For one glass of heated liquid, take a tablespoon of another ingredient, and dilute the milk with mineral water in a 1:1 ratio. This treatment of cough in children using folk remedies is considered the most popular, and if given warm drink baby at night, this helps improve sleep, remove barking cough, cure your throat.
• Yolks (chicken, quail) ground with sugar are the well-known eggnog. If a child coughs to the point of vomiting and a whistle is heard, then this folk remedy will not help, but such a sweet treatment can soften a hard cough. To make the taste even more pleasant, honey, cocoa, and citrus juice are added to the mashed yolks, but provided that the baby is not allergic to these products. To prepare a serving, you need to take one yolk and a tablespoon of granulated sugar, thoroughly grind it to a fluffy white mass, and then add any of the additional ingredients up to a teaspoon.
• Herbal infusions are prepared in the evening; a thermos is used for this, and the proportions are simple: take 1 tbsp per glass of boiling water. l. vegetable raw materials. To make cough treatment in children faster, take chamomile for infusion, Linden blossom, St. John's wort, sage, green cones.
• Instead of mustard plasters and ready-made pharmaceutical ointments It is better to do rubbing at night, if the child has a wet cough, with pork, goat, badger, bear fat, and then wrap the baby well.
• Compresses are another good folk remedy if a child’s dry cough does not go away for a long time, and boiled and mashed potatoes, bread crumbs, etc. are suitable for the procedure. cabbage leaf with honey.

Inhalations for dry cough without fever

The search for an effective method to cure dry cough in children, if the process is a residual phenomenon, leads to inhalation treatment. To soften is the main goal of this type of therapy, and steam is ideal for this. The baby will have to breathe over hot vapors, and the liquid will still gurgle, so parents must be very careful and monitor the baby. Inhalation is well suited for those who suffer from chronic cough, and the procedure takes no more than a quarter of an hour.

In the absence of allergic reactions, essential oils are suitable, for example, pine, juniper, eucalyptus. Dr. Komarovsky advises doing inhalations with medicinal herbs (chain, wild rosemary, coltsfoot), and during the procedure using either inhalers or a nebulizer. An effective and simple folk method is to breathe over a saucepan of potatoes, covering your head with a towel on top.

Video: how to relieve residual cough in a child

Colds occur very often in children, and this is especially true for infants. A runny nose without fever occurs due to the fact that the respiratory tract is cleared of various types of contaminants. This phenomenon is considered normal and does not require cause for concern. But sometimes a runny nose and cough without fever can be a reason to see a doctor. There are many reasons for the occurrence of such symptoms, so the doctor’s task is to find the one and eliminate it.

You can find out what to do when a dry cough does not clear your throat by reading this article.

Causes

As a rule, a runny nose and cough without fever are symptoms of a cold, which are caused by various viruses.

The baby’s immune system begins to recognize pathogenic microorganisms and begins to fight them. But sometimes it can be very difficult to recognize a virus, so it easily penetrates the body’s cells. For this reason, with a bacterial infection, the temperature rises almost immediately, but with viral indicators remain normal.

Why a dry cough occurs without signs of a cold is indicated in the article.

If viral rhinitis is left untreated, the cause of such neglect of health can be severe inflammation of the sinuses. In other words, the child will develop sinusitis. It is also important to understand that along with mucus, microbes can enter the throat and trachea. If you don’t give the baby timely treatment, then he may develop the following complications:

• Pharyngitis, laryngitis;
• nasopharyngitis;
• Angina;
• Bronchitis, tracheitis and pneumonia.

How to treat tracheid cough can be found in the article.

In the video, the child has a runny nose and cough without fever, the reason is possibly a red throat:

You can learn how to treat bronchitis by reading this article.

Viral infection greatly weakens protective functions organism, as a result of which a bacterial one can also join. ARVI very often activates other pathogenic microorganisms which lead to inflammation of the ENT organs. Based on this, parents must understand that they cannot do without the help of a doctor, even if the cough and runny nose are not accompanied by an increase in temperature.

The next reason for the development of such symptoms is an allergic reaction. Allergic rhinitis occurs in patients who spend a long time in a dusty room. Very often this occurs due to infrequent wet cleaning. A runny nose can be a reaction to flowering plants, flying insects, children's cosmetics and chemical substances. Often, even healthy children are affected by a cough and runny nose due to the very dry air in the room.

If a dry cough and runny nose without fever bother the baby for a long time, then this is very alarming symptoms. On the background allergic reaction young patients may develop bronchial asthma. In this situation, it is very important to provide timely help to the baby, this is the only way you will double the chances that your child will grow up healthy.

How to treat dry paroxysmal cough in an adult is indicated in the article.

Therapeutic measures

To overcome a viral infection in a child’s body, it is necessary to have antiviral medications. Without them, treatment will not have a positive effect. But before this, a mandatory consultation with a specialist is necessary; only he will be able to determine which of the available drugs will be the most effective and what is its dosage. To the group antiviral drugs includes the following:

These are not all drugs; these are allowed to be used by children from the first day of life. To increase the fight against the disease, it is worth using interferonogenesis inducers in treatment:

You can learn how to treat a wet cough and runny nose without fever by reading this article.

To improve vitality and protective forces the body should take echinacea tincture. At the time of therapy for young patients, it is very difficult to do without medications, the action of which is aimed at combating symptoms. When a child has a stuffy nose and finds it difficult to breathe, vasoconstrictor nasal drops can be used:

But you shouldn’t get carried away with them either. It is allowed to use drops for no more than 5 days, otherwise you may develop allergic rhinitis.

What to do when a baby has a runny nose without fever can be found in this article.

When a child is tormented by a wet cough, it is necessary to prescribe medications whose action is aimed at thinning the mucus and its rapid clearance. For these purposes, it is necessary to use tincture of licorice root, marshmallow, Mucaltin, ACC.

To eliminate dry cough, you can use Tusuprex, Pertussin, Libexin. Prolonged cough is perfectly eliminated by herbal breast collection. But you shouldn’t suppress your cough once again, since you can interfere with the discharge of sputum, and inflammation will occur in the lungs.

To relieve swelling and allergies that arise against the background of the inflammatory process, it is necessary to use antihistamines. They are in great demand here the following types drugs:

When treating a cold at home, you can use inhalations. Thanks to them, it is possible to direct medications directly into the respiratory tract. For such treatment, it is allowed to use both special inhalers and improvised means. All components of medications penetrate along with steam into the upper respiratory tract and cleanse the mucous membrane of microbes, remove pain syndrome in the throat, cough and hoarseness in the voice.

Whether there can be a cough during teething will become clear after reading this article.

You can use time-tested steam inhalations. This is inhaling steam from boiled potatoes. It is necessary to thoroughly wash the vegetable and boil it, drain the water and bend over the hot potatoes, covering the top with a towel. Dispense a couple within 20 minutes. If you perform similar manipulations with a 3-5 year old child, then they must be performed together, otherwise the child may get burns.

When a cold is expressed by a runny nose, then it is worth using nasal drops homemade. For these purposes, you can use Kalanchoe, aloe, garlic and onions.

If you decide to use aloe juice, it is best that its age does not exceed 3-4 years. Dilute the resulting juice with water in a ratio of 1:10 and drip the medicine into each nasal passage, 3-5 drops. You should not combine aloe juice with drugs such as Naphthyzin or Sanorin. Otherwise, this will lead to the development of sinusitis.

How to treat a wheezing cough is indicated in the article.

Features of treatment of infants

If a baby has been diagnosed with a cold, which is characterized by coughing, runny nose and sneezing without fever, then you should immediately go to the clinic. After a thorough diagnosis, the doctor will be able to determine the cause of the pathology and prescribe appropriate treatment.

The video talks about the causes of a runny nose without fever in a baby:

First of all, all actions should be aimed at increasing the body's immune forces. To do this, the baby needs to be given Interferon and Grippferon. Place a drop in the child's nose into each nasal passage 2 times throughout the day. If the baby is already 6 months old, then you can give him children's Anaferon for the treatment of influenza and the prevention of colds. A tablet of this drug should be dissolved in warm water and then given to the baby to drink. The number of doses per day should not exceed 3 times.

How to cure asthmatic cough is indicated in the description of this article.

The sooner parents start treating a cold, the faster it will begin to have positive influence. The presented drugs will prevent damage to the baby’s body during a flu epidemic, when another adult has already become ill with it.

Treatment of rhinitis during a cold involves the use of Aquamaris or Solin.

This saline solutions, with which you need to drip the little patient’s nose. If available severe congestion nose, you can purchase aloe extract at the pharmacy. For colds, inhalation using garlic has a positive effect. It is necessary to grind this product on a grater and let the baby breathe. Apply vasoconstrictor medications For infant not acceptable.

To treat a cough, you can give your baby a dessert spoon of chamomile infusion 3 times a day. It can only be taken by a child who is over 6 months old. To irrigate the throat, you should use Tantum Verde spray, do the procedure 2 times a day.

Mother's milk has a disinfecting effect, so a baby with a cold needs to breastfeed as often as possible. In addition, it is worth providing your child with plenty of fluids.

If your baby coughs, you can make a vodka compress. To do this, mix vodka and water in equal proportions, moisten cotton wool in it and place it on the throat, cover with gauze and cellophane on top. Such activities must be carried out with extreme caution, otherwise the baby’s delicate skin can be burned. It is also allowed to use mustard plasters, but here you need to be extremely careful, place them only through 3 layers of gauze and after the doctor has approved such treatment.

If a child has a cold accompanied by a severe cough, then he is allowed to use Mucaltin among medications. This medicine does not have side effects, as it is produced on the basis of natural ingredients.

What does Komarovsky think?

According to the famous pediatrician Komarovsky, during the treatment of cough and runny nose without fever, parents should direct all their efforts to keeping the mucous membranes of the nose moist. Here it is necessary to regularly fill the child’s room with fresh air, so that the room temperature does not exceed 21 degrees, and the air humidity is not lower than 75%.

The doctor gives parents the following advice:

1. Regularly irrigate the nasal mucosa with saline. You can buy it at any pharmacy, or you can make it yourself. You just need to dissolve it in a glass warm water dessert spoon of sea salt.
2. Use the drug Ectericide, which has an anti-inflammatory and softening effect.
3. Perform inhalations using a nebulizer or improvised means. Excellent for these purposes medicinal herbs, essential oils.

In the video, Dr. Komarovsky talks about coughing without runny nose and fever:

To prevent your child from getting colds, Komarovsky recommends following following rules prevention:

1. Strengthen the body, so often walk with your baby outside and play active games.
2. The baby's diet should be filled with vitamins and microelements.

Runny nose and cough are two unpleasant symptoms, which indicate that a virus has settled in the body. Leak viral disease maybe without temperature, which indicates strong immunity child. But even in this case, treatment is a necessary measure. It is important to maintain the baby’s immune strength, otherwise the body will not cope and various complications will arise.

It is unlikely that there is at least one mother today who has not heard of Dr. Evgeniy Komarovsky. His methods of treating and preventing diseases in children of different ages are the most popular in the arsenal of thousands of parents.

“Doctor Komarovsky’s School” is a media project that was born in 2010, and quickly won ratings among viewers not only in Ukraine and Russia, but also far abroad. In a broad sense, the “Komarovsky school” is a technique, adherence to the principles of which makes it possible to grow healthy child without the use of medications where you can do without them.

Doctor Komarovsky first appeared on television screens back in 1992. At that time there was an outbreak of diphtheria, and the pediatrician was invited to explain in detail to the public the dangers of such a disease. Since then, the doctor has been repeatedly invited as an expert in various programs, which as a result grew into the idea of ​​​​creating the author’s project “Schools”.

Why did Evgeniy Olegovich make such a decision? According to him, parents and grandparents trust the guy on TV more than the regular pediatrician, even if he has academic degree. One way or another, since the advent of Doctor Komarovsky’s School, many fathers and mothers have really begun to approach the system of treatment and hardening of their children more carefully. Popular pediatrician in accessible form teaches parents to use common sense when different situations. Including in the treatment of cough.

A child's cough is always a cause of concern for parents. Komarovsky emphasizes that this is just a symptom of a respiratory tract disease. If it occurs with fever, then it is not allergic, but infectious in nature (which, however, does not exclude the opposite: hyperthermia is not always observed during infection).

A cough is the body's reaction to a viral or bacterial irritant. When pathogenic microbes get on the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract, the body tries to cleanse itself of them by producing large quantity mucus. This phlegm must be removed. This is how a cough occurs. The main task of parents is to prevent the mucus from drying out and stopping the cough reflex. The first task is accomplished by moist air and drinking plenty of fluids; the second task is accomplished by the absence of cough suppressants in the arsenal.

When coughing with fever, parents are frightened by the unknown: what is its cause? Cough with fever in 90% of cases is viral in nature. Only a doctor can make a diagnosis. Excess quantity mucus is produced when:

• rhinitis;
• sinusitis;
• adenoids;
• pharyngitis;
• laryngitis;
• tracheitis;
• bronchitis;
• pneumonia.

Almost any acute respiratory infection is accompanied by a cough reflex. The cough can be dry (unproductive) or wet (productive). Treatment in each case is different and is aimed at reducing the viscosity of sputum. Medicines are prescribed by a specialist, and parents must take measures to create favorable conditions, in which the body will fight infection: moist, cool air and drinking plenty of fluids.

Self-medication for cough with fever is unacceptable. The doctor must determine which parts of the respiratory system are affected. The upper respiratory tract cannot be treated with cough suppressants, and bronchitis and pneumonia require specific treatment, depending on the pathogen and the severity of the process.

A child's cough without fever may be of an allergic nature or infectious. The problem is not the cough itself, but what causes it. It will pass when the reason for its appearance disappears:

• Acute respiratory infections - they are not always accompanied by an increase in temperature;
• chronic pathologies of the respiratory tract - for example, with an adenoid, mucus constantly flows down the back wall larynx and causes a cough reflex;
• allergies are one of the most common reasons, in which there is both mild coughing and obstruction;
• gastrointestinal diseases - stomach contents are thrown into the esophagus and enter the respiratory tract, causing irritation and coughing;
• Whooping cough is a serious childhood infection that is dangerous for babies.

Sometimes the cause of a cough without fever is an unfavorable microclimate in the room. For example, if the air in the room is too dry or very dusty.

Parents make a huge mistake when, in case of any coughing, they decide to “stuff” their child with antitussives or expectorants. Komarovsky says that not a single sane parent abroad would think of buying an arsenal pharmaceuticals without first consulting a doctor. Treatment of the upper and lower respiratory tract is carried out using different means and methods.

The main mistakes that parents make when children cough:

• give yourself antitussives - drugs that suppress the cough center are permissible only for whooping cough and under the supervision of a specialist;
• self-prescribe expectorants - the harm from such self-medication is less than from antitussives, but has its own nuances. For example, if given to a child with a dry, nonproductive cough expectorant, this will only intensify the attacks;
• independently give the child antitussives and mucoltics with expectorants at the same time - this is extremely dangerous, since these drugs have mutually exclusive action: some provoke copious discharge mucus, while others block its removal;
• close all the windows in the apartment and dress the child warmly - this creates conditions for even greater viscosity of the mucus;
• They put the baby in bed and put mustard plasters on - this thereby provokes a deterioration in the removal of sputum.

Komarovsky draws the attention of parents: with any cough, there is time to see a doctor. And only after his recommendations can you begin treatment.

In the arsenal home first aid kit There may be relatively harmless means for thinning sputum (mucaltin, anise drops, ambroxol), but it is advisable to use them after consultation with a specialist. The main task of parents is to give the child something to drink, humidify and ventilate the room. If you don't have a fever, you can and should take a walk when you cough. Fresh air plays a major role in treatment. And there are much fewer diseases for which you cannot go for a walk than for which you need to go for a walk.

Dr. Komarovsky’s main advice: for any illness, it is important to give your child water. The viscosity of blood and mucus depends on the amount you drink. The less moisture, the thicker the phlegm. It’s normal if the child drinks normal amount liquid, he pees on average once every three hours. A smaller amount indicates insufficient drinking regime. This raises the question: what can you give your child to drink? Tea, compote, water or any drink that the baby agrees to drink will do. In this case, the principle applies: it is better to drink at least something than not to drink at all.

Komarovsky’s second main advice: a favorable indoor microclimate. The child should breathe fresh, clean, cool air. Do not forget about moisturizing the mucous membranes with regular saline solution.

Third tip: do not self-medicate. Any medications are prescribed only after diagnosis by a specialist.

Why is it so important to give your child something to drink? First of all, because with any respiratory viral infection, a person loses great amount liquids. Firstly because heat, secondly, because there is shortness of breath, the child sweats, he constantly humidifies the inhaled air, in addition to this, the nose is often stuffy, you have to breathe through the mouth, this additionally leads to drying out of the mucous membranes.

Scientists have long proven that the viscosity of mucus and the viscosity of blood are directly related. And if the blood is thick, the mucus is thick, if the blood is thin, the mucus is liquid. If a child does not drink and the blood thickens, then mucus thickens everywhere, and there is snot in the nose and phlegm in the lungs. And when thick phlegm accumulates in the lungs, it is in the bronchi main reason complications. Thick mucus has accumulated in the bronchi - this is bronchitis or pneumonia. How to prevent this? How to prevent blood clotting?

One of the main rules is to reduce fluid loss by keeping the air cool and humid. But the second rule that must be followed is to give the child something to drink. And here we have the main questions.
What to drink? How much to drink? How to give water if you don’t want to drink? Let's talk about all this one by one.

How much fluid should a sick child drink per day?

In fact, the amount of liquid a child needs to drink depends on such factors - first of all, how high is the temperature, how often does he breathe, what is the temperature and humidity of the room? How more active child loses fluid, the more fluid he needs to drink, so it is impossible to determine exactly how much he needs. But there is a main rule - we need to prevent blood from thickening.

There are very convenient symptoms that you can use to navigate. The most basic symptom is that the child must pee at least once every 3 hours. If he pees once every 3 hours, then you are giving him enough water. If he pees rarely, if he has a dry tongue, then this is a reason to drink, drink and drink.

What's better to drink? Hot water or room temperature?

You should know that liquid will begin to be absorbed from the stomach into the blood when the temperature of the liquid is equal to the temperature of the blood; if a child drinks a liquid at room temperature, it will begin to be absorbed when it warms up to body temperature. Hence the elementary rule - that the liquid used for drinking should be the same as the body temperature. Of course, there is no need to measure with an accuracy of 36.6, plus or minus 3-4 degrees is not important, but it is optimal that the temperature of such a liquid is 32-39 degrees, this is ideal and this means the liquid will be absorbed from the liquid as quickly as possible gastrointestinal tract. This is especially true when the child has attempted vomiting and nausea.

We need to reduce the time the liquid remains in the stomach. Remember, the temperature of the liquid used for drinking must be equal to body temperature, this is very important.

There are many ways to overcome the hated dry cough that torments a child, sometimes even causing him to vomit and preventing him from sleeping at night. However, before prescribing treatment, it is necessary to make sure exactly what caused the disease and which part of the nasopharynx is affected, so that the drugs used have the maximum effect. effective impact and did no harm.

One of best advice is given by the famous pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky - he not only tells how to treat a dry cough in a child, but also explains in detail to parents how it is carried out self-diagnosis, and what measures are taken in this or that case.

As a rule, a dry cough does not occur on its own, even in young children. Its cause is most often ARVI - in this case, it is necessary to ask the child in detail about a sore throat, difficulty breathing, and also look for other signs by measuring the temperature and carefully examining the throat.

An infant often experiences skin reaction, which is accompanied by a rash or swelling of the upper neck. By carefully feeling the area with your hand, you may feel a strong fever, which will be the main symptom of a cold.

However in the best possible way The solution to the problem of dry cough is to take the child to the doctor for diagnosis. You need to contact your pediatrician, who, if necessary, will write a referral to an otolaryngologist or infectious disease specialist. The doctor will carefully examine the throat, listen to breathing, and also prescribe appropriate treatment, which will be represented by medications.

In almost all cases, mucolytics are used various actions- only in case bacterial complication For children, antibiotics and other stronger drugs are prescribed.

It is also necessary to carefully examine the mucus, which is rejected by the child’s body and comes out - during a dry cough there may be practically no mucus, but a certain amount is still released. If the mucus is clear and there is no increase in temperature, then the dry cough is not caused by an infectious disease, but by a completely different factor. In this case, it is necessary to look for another cause and eliminate it as soon as possible. as soon as possible to prevent complications from occurring.

What is it?

Dr. Komarovsky says that dry cough in children of any age can be caused by a number of reasons, from harmless to very dangerous.

In an infant you may notice similar phenomenon immediately after waking up, he coughs several times, after which the urge stops and breathing returns to normal. This is completely natural and there is no need to treat any disease or look for another cause - the baby’s lungs get rid of the phlegm accumulated during sleep to ensure the free passage of oxygen into the blood.

The alarm should only be sounded if an infant develops a barking, hysterical dry cough, which is accompanied by a rise in temperature and small clots cloudy mucus.

Also a reason to start immediate treatment, is long duration dry cough, which is not limited to a few urges after sleep.

In addition, the cause could be a completely banal ARVI. However, Evgeny Komarovsky warns against treating all diseases with one method and the same medicines. First, the doctor must determine which part of the nasopharynx is damaged and what caused the dry cough.

How does it manifest?

Depending on the nature of the child’s throat damage, mucolytics, antiseptics are prescribed, and if bacterial infections- other means that can combat such an invasion of the body. In addition, a signal to begin intensive treatment is a sharp increase in body temperature and the appearance of symptoms of intoxication.

This is the first sign that the child has the flu, warns Komarovsky. Symptoms also include a severe cough that does not bring relief, but is accompanied by sharp pain in the sternum.

Coughing attacks, wearing barking character are very rare, but are evidence of bacterial complications. This disease should be treated with supportive care in combination with folk remedies- Unfortunately, effective medicines against viral diseases very little has been developed.

Dry cough is quite often caused by more serious diseases - as an example, Dr. Komarovsky calls whooping cough, which often spreads in kindergartens and schools by airborne droplets. At the same time, it is more likely to bark or even buzz - a characteristic strong resonating sound appears in the chest, clearly distinguishable even without careful listening.

In addition, evidence of the presence of whooping cough may be sharp increase temperature, which is resistant to many antipyretics. Self-treatment- including folk remedies in this case is also unacceptable; immediate consultation with a doctor is necessary, which is usually followed by hospitalization.

In addition, it is necessary to take a closer look at the movement of the children's chest - if it literally bends during a dry cough, urgent hospitalization is also necessary to treat pneumonia.

The last point, which Evgeny Komarovsky mentions, is not related to infections at all - it is represented by reflux disease of the esophagus, in which stomach acid enters the respiratory system, causing a strong burning sensation and provoking a dry cough. In addition, sometimes a similar phenomenon can be represented by an allergy, including to ordinary household dust, which often accumulates in children’s rooms under carpets, beds and in soft toys.

In this case, it is necessary to treat the symptoms, as well as eliminate allergens from the child’s immediate environment as quickly as possible:

• carry out wet cleaning of the house;
• put aside soft toys;
• use a gentle diet;
• try to avoid wearing synthetic fabrics;
• try to limit contact with chemical dyes.

However, it is worth noting that neither reflux nor allergies can cause a strong cough that is barking or buzzing in nature - this is a sign of an infectious disease.

Basic healing techniques

Traditional treatment of dry cough in children involves the use of a number of drugs that are prescribed for certain diseases. In particular, if a dry cough is caused by ARVI in a child, then a fairly simple scheme is used. It is almost impossible to treat a viral disease, so you just need to relieve the symptoms. For children under 1 year of age, exclusively natural herbal mucolytics are used, based on plantain syrup or ivy extract.

If your child’s age has already exceeded this value, then stronger treatment based on ambroskol may be prescribed ( Lazolvana) or similar chemically synthesized substances.

In addition, it is also possible to treat viral colds using folk remedies as additional components of the regimen.

The best results for getting rid of dry cough are obtained by using decoctions based on honey, raspberries, lingonberries, and blueberries.

However, Dr. Komarovsky warns against prescribing treatment for children on their own. If you treat diseases of the upper respiratory tract with mucolytics, this will only intensify the dry cough due to the release of mucus, which will not be effectively rejected by the body. In addition, if you have a fever, or if your child has a barking cough, you should immediately consult a doctor.

It is also necessary to receive professional treatment if there are signs of severe infection or pneumonia, only a specialist can deal with these diseases, and it is impossible to eliminate them with folk remedies.

To relieve dry cough in children, including infants, it is recommended to humidify the room air. Treatment supplemented with hydration can effectively thin mucus and turn a dry cough into a productive one.

In the absence of fever, walks in the fresh air are very important, even in winter time- Evgeny Komarovsky especially emphasizes this.

To stop a dry cough or relieve a barking cough, you need to drink more fluids. In the absence of fever, it is better for children to make moderately sweet teas with raspberries and lemon. Treatment should not involve the use of excessively hot liquid - many mothers force their children to drink practically boiling tea, which causes additional irritation of the larynx and worsens both dry and barking coughs.

If the temperature rises, it is recommended to give just warm liquid with a small amount of sugar and a few drops lemon juice- the same recommendation is valid for an infant.

Remember that treatment for a severe dry cough should be based on medical point vision, and should not further harm the health of children. Dr. Komarovsky emphasizes that self-medication is one of the least effective methods, especially in the conditions of information chaos that is happening on the Internet and on television. Whenever prolonged cough of any nature in your child, consult a doctor immediately.

During the cold season, almost every cold or respiratory viral infection in children is not without a cough. There are a great many ways to get rid of this extremely unpleasant, debilitating phenomenon. But before you run to the pharmacy for medicine, you need to take into account the specific features of cough, because they are different for each disease.

Treatment of cough in a child according to Komarovsky is valuable recommendations that help to effectively get rid of an unpleasant illness. The widely known pediatrician Komarovsky has been studying children's health for a long time. His advice based on scientific developments, helped cure many weakened children and prevent serious illnesses. Komarovsky is a pediatrician with many years of experience. He wrote a whole book about the problems children's cough and measures to eliminate it.

Dr. Komarovsky adheres to the basic principle: you cannot suppress a child’s cough with various antitussive drugs. Such self-medication can be quite dangerous. What is a cough? It's not just a symptom or residual phenomenon seasonal diseases. With the help of coughing, the body tries to cleanse the child's lungs. If the cough is “turned off,” then, as a rule, it accumulates in the lungs a large number of sputum. As a result, ventilation of the lungs may be impaired, or diseases such as pneumonia or bronchitis are likely to occur.

Thus, according to Dr. Komarovsky, a child’s body needs a cough. Of course he should be treated, but the logic proper treatment is that the cough does not need to be eliminated, but alleviated. It is necessary to increase the effectiveness of its cleansing effect on the child’s lungs. Therefore, first of all medicinal products should act specifically on sputum. After all, it is well known: the thicker the sputum, the more difficult it is to leave the child’s body.

Dr. Komarovsky believes that before starting the treatment process, it is necessary to find the answer to a number of important questions. First, it is necessary to find out the cause of the cough, that is, what specific disease caused it. Secondly, determine what kind of cough is tormenting the child - wet or dry. Thirdly, you should pay attention to the child’s condition: does the baby’s cough make him cry, choke, or convulsively change position. Fourthly, it is important to determine characteristics sputum: its quantity, color, presence purulent discharge And foul odor. Finally, it is necessary to clarify whether the child has bronchospasm and to have an idea of ​​how the different groups of antitussive drugs work.

In particular, you should not immediately use antibiotics for coughs caused by viral infections. As a rule, it gradually goes away on its own. In most cases, antibiotics do not help. The main direction of treatment is to facilitate the discharge of sputum. Dr. Komarovsky claims that the viscosity of sputum has direct influence blood viscosity. Therefore, to thin the blood, you should increase the drinking regime and not overfeed the child.

You should not keep your child at home all the time. A great way to prevent dry mucous secretions is to take walks in the fresh air. Also greatly dries out mucus elevated temperature bodies. In this case, the child is advised to take antipyretic drugs. In general, in the room where the sick child is, the air should be moist and cool. The main thing in treating a child’s cough is to prevent the formation of a lump of mucus, which can close the lumen in the bronchi. Impaired ventilation of the lungs is the main cause of inflammatory processes, in particular pneumonia.

If the child's body temperature is normal, Dr. Komarovsky also recommends performing a special massage - lightly tapping the child's back in the lung area with his fingers. This massage will ease the passage of mucus. naturally, which contributes speedy recovery child.

Thus, treatment of cough in a child according to Komarovsky - modern method, built on the basis of the Soviet school of pediatrics.

Pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky tells how to treat cough in children. After reading the article, be sure to watch the video about coughing.

Rarely does anyone go through the autumn period without acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections. A constant companion to most of these diseases is a cough. This is one of the most common symptoms of illness in a child.

How to properly treat a cough? To begin with, we suggest “getting to know the enemy by sight.”

Cough - it's complicated reflex act, during which they sharply decrease respiratory muscles, and a jerky release of air from the lungs occurs.

TO cough reflex leads to irritation of receptors that are located in the larynx, trachea, bronchi or pleura.

When coughing, a person expels not only air, but also phlegm and foreign bodies that have entered the body through the ENT organs.

That is, cough during many diseases clears the airways . Which means he turns from an enemy into an ally and assistant .

This fact must be taken into account when prescribing treatment. In cases where a cough helps to get rid of phlegm, it should never be blocked with antitussives. On the contrary, expectorant medications should be used to help clear the airways.

Famous pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky Absolutely rightly notes: “ Cough is not a disease, but only a symptom of some disease" And, therefore, it is necessary to fight not the cough, but to treat it.

Cough may be symptom of the most various diseases :

• respiratory tract (acute respiratory infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, etc.);
• allergic and infectious-allergic diseases (for example, bronchial asthma);
• chemical irritation of the bronchi, for example, inhalation of paint or gasoline;
• famous children's infectious disease whooping cough, which primarily manifests itself paroxysmal cough and etc.

Coughing helps eliminate foreign substances or mucus that accumulates in the body. And to prevent drying sputum, which is simply necessary for the body to heal itself, the child needs Fresh air and warm drink .

In addition, in such a situation, Dr. Komarovsky advises expectorants and mucolytics : mucaltin, ammonia-anise drops, potassium iodide, bromhexine, acetylcysteine, lazolvan. These agents thin the mucus and promote coughing. The dosage must be prescribed by a doctor.

Pediatrician Evgeny Komarovsky: Never, under any circumstances, use or give cough suppressants to children. Their use has strict indications, and without a doctor’s examination, without carefully listening to the lungs, without clarifying the diagnosis, you can cause very serious harm!

The famous doctor once again reminds that “juggling” with medications and treating a cough is a pointless exercise. Need to find root cause .

Sometimes it is enough to protect the child from or put a humidifier in the room - and the cough will disappear. In any case, do not remain indifferent to the signals that the children's body. Necessary call a doctor , correctly diagnose and treat the disease causing the cough.

Be healthy and don't cough!

Komarovsky School. Cough and cough medicines