How to treat dry cough in children at home? It depends on the cause. At home, you can use inhalations, lozenges, antitussive drugs. However, before proceeding with therapeutic measures, it is necessary to determine the cause of the symptom..

Prolonged dry cough ceases to fulfill the function of clearing the respiratory tractTreatment of dry cough in children at home Dry cough can be obsessive and intense, tire the child and disturb his well-being. Therefore, treatment is aimed at alleviating the cough, and if it is not possible, at suppressing the cough reflex.. Treatment must necessarily include an impact on the underlying disease, and not just on the symptom..

First aid for a coughing fitIn a coughing fit, a child needs to be helped quickly. How can you help:.

Drink warm tea. The intake of warm liquid will alleviate the cough.

Give mints, cough drops (if child is over 3 years old).

Make a warm foot bath, then wrap the limbs in woolen socks.

After the intensity of the cough has decreased, you can proceed to a full treatment.

Inhalations An effective method of reducing cough in a child is inhalation (inhalation of medicinal substances).

Inhalations moisturize the mucous membrane of the respiratory organs, improve the function of the ciliated epithelium, and alleviate cough.

At home, steam inhalation can be used to treat children over 7 years old.. To do this, heat the solution, cover your head with a towel and breathe in the steam for 2–4 minutes.. Inhalations are used 3-4 times a day. If there is a cough, the child should inhale and exhale the vapor through the mouth, not through the nose..

Steam inhalation solution can be prepared at home. For this, medicinal plants with anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects are used:.

chamomile;

mint;

eucalyptus;

cedar needles;

St. John's wort.

Dry vegetable raw materials are poured with boiling water at the rate of 1 tbsp.. for 1 glass of water, insist for 15-20 minutes. Older children who do not suffer from allergies can use essential oils - pine, eucalyptus, sea buckthorn. The solution is prepared at the rate of 3-4 drops of oil per liter of water..

It is better for children to carry out inhalation with a nebulizer. For dry cough, alkaline solutions are effective (water with soda, mineral water).

With steam inhalation, there is a risk of burning the upper respiratory tract. To avoid consequences, you need to follow the rules:.

Water temperature should be 50-60 °C. Hotter solution can harm the baby.

The distance above the container should be 20-30 cm. If you bend down, the steam can damage the mucous membrane of the nose and nasopharynx.

The duration of the procedure is no more than 5 minutes.

Steam inhalations can help with diseases of the upper respiratory tract (rhinitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis), but they are contraindicated at elevated temperatures.

If the cough is a symptom of bronchitis, steam inhalation will not be effective.. In such cases, you need to use a special drug - a nebulizer, which allows you to deliver medicinal substances to the small branches of the bronchi.

Nebulizer inhalations are more effective and safe for babies, they can be used in children of any age..

As a solution, weakly alkaline mineral waters, saline, water with soda or drugs are used..

Drug treatmentFor the treatment of dry cough, antitussive drugs are used that suppress the cough reflex. Antitussive drugs are of two types:.

Central action - inhibit the cough center located in the medulla oblongata.

Peripheral action - reduce the sensitivity of cough receptors located in the respiratory tract.

Centrally acting antitussives are used only in older children.. In young children, they can depress the respiratory center, which is located next to the cough center, which is dangerous by stopping breathing.. Centrally acting antitussives are prescribed for a painful cough, which is accompanied by vomiting or a violation of well-being. These drugs include Butamirat, Glaucin, Oxeladin. You can give them to a child only as directed by a doctor..

Peripherally acting antitussive drugs include Libeksin. Such drugs are used mainly for diseases of the lower respiratory tract..

Libexin is a peripheral antitussive. To relieve cough, you can use lozenges that contain menthol or local anesthetics.. Local preparations are effective for pharyngitis, as they reduce sensitivity in the pharynx. Decreased sensitivity leads to cough relief.

General recommendations To soften a dry cough, general recommendations will help:.

Give your child more fluids to drink. Suitable green and fruit tea, chamomile and rosehip decoction, warm milk with honey, still mineral water. Frequent drinking reduces the number of coughing fits, prevents the mucous membranes from drying out.

Provide access to clean air - often ventilate the child's room.

Humidify indoor air. To do this, you can use a special humidifier or arrange containers of water around the room, daily wet cleaning.

The room in which the child is located should be warm, as cold air provokes a cough attack..

Compliance with these recommendations will reduce the intensity of coughing, alleviate the condition of the child..

Herbal medicine and folk recipesTreatment of dry cough in children at home can be carried out using herbal medicine.

For treatment, medicinal plants are used that have an enveloping, anti-inflammatory, softening effect..

The use of the following plants is shown:.

polysaccharide-containing herbs. These are plants that have a pronounced enveloping and expectorant effect.. This group includes marshmallow root, coltsfoot leaves, flax seeds;

plants with astringent properties - St. John's wort, horsetail, knotweed;

plants with desensitizing properties - black elderberry, string, chamomile;

herbs with antitussive action - thyme, oregano, angelica rhizomes.

Decoctions and infusions are prepared from plants, they can also be used for inhalation.. Raw materials, or rather, the pomace that remains after straining, can be used to prepare chest compresses.

Phytotherapy must be approached wisely, plants are selected taking into account the symptoms and their causes..

Before using medicines, you should definitely consult a doctor, as some herbs are highly allergenic or have the ability to cause poisoning.. For example, wild rosemary (an antitussive plant) can cause hallucinations in children..

Ledum cannot be used to treat children, although it has an antitussive effect. Treatment of the underlying disease. Cough is not a separate disease, but only one of the symptoms.. It is ineffective to act only on the symptom and not treat the underlying disease.

Specific therapy depends on the cause of the cough:.

Disease.

Etiotropic treatment.

Whooping cough.

Antibacterial agents from the group of macrolides (Azithromycin).

SARS.

There are no specific drugs.

Flu.

In the first days of the disease, antiviral drugs are used: Remantadine, Oseltamivir, Zanamivir.

foreign body.

At home, the Heimlich maneuver can help - a sharp pressure on the epigastric region. Further treatment is carried out only in a hospital (extraction of a foreign body by surgery).

ENT pathology (postnasal drip syndrome).

Treatment is complex, consists of 3 components:.

Sanitation of the focus of infection. It consists in washing the nose and nasopharynx, gargling.

Topical preparations. Use drops with decongestant action (Nazivin).

Systemic drugs. Herbal preparations are used (Sinupret). In case of a bacterial infection, antibiotics from the group of macrolides or penicillins (Amoxicillin, Azithromycin) are prescribed..

Allergy.

First of all, you need to avoid contact with the allergen.. Additionally, antihistamines and glucocorticoids are used.

Pleurisy.

Antibiotics are prescribed for bacterial pleurisy, glucocorticoids for fibrinous pleurisy. With exudative pleurisy, pleural puncture is indicated (performed in a hospital setting).

Dry cough: how it manifests itself, features In most cases, cough is a protective reflex, which is aimed at clearing the airways. There are two types of cough: dry and wet.

Dry cough is not accompanied by sputum production. It is obsessive, intense, often disrupts the child's sleep and his well-being.

Dry cough often loses its protective function and does not help clear the airways. Such a cough becomes unproductive, harmful, tires the child. In this case, it is justified to suppress the cough reflex.

Dry cough occurs when irritation of cough receptors, which are located in the mucous membrane of the larynx, trachea, bronchi. Irritants can be dust, bacteria, viruses, allergens, mucus. In children, coughing can be provoked by the ingress of a foreign body..

Dry cough can be acute (up to 3 weeks) or chronic. Acute cough can be effectively treated at home, chronic cough is difficult to treat.

Causes of dry cough Dry cough occurs at the initial stage of inflammation of the respiratory tract, as well as with reflex irritation of cough receptors.

The most common causes of dry cough include the following diseases:.

acute respiratory diseases: viral and bacterial;

pathology of ENT organs: rhinitis, tonsillitis, adenoids;

whooping cough;

foreign body entry.

ARD most common cause of dry cough. The child may get sick several times a year. ARI is caused by viruses or bacteria that are transmitted through the air. This may affect the nasal cavity, throat, larynx, trachea or bronchi. In all cases, the cough is dry, but its nature may differ:.

with sore throat - obsessive, mainly in the morning;

with inflammation of the larynx - rough, barking;

with inflammation of the trachea - painful, hacking;

with inflammation of the bronchi (at 1 week of illness) - loud, sonorous.

It is possible to suspect acute respiratory infections by characteristic clinical signs at home. In addition to coughing, the child will have a fever, weakness, runny nose, sore throat.

Acute respiratory diseases - the most common cause of dry cough. Mucus that is produced in the upper respiratory tract flows down the back of the throat. This leads to irritation of the receptors, which provokes a cough..

Postnasal drip syndrome is more common in children than in adults.. This mechanism of cough development is typical for the following diseases:.

rhinitis - inflammation of the nasal mucosa;

tonsillitis - inflammation of the palatine tonsils;

sinusitis - inflammation of the paranasal sinuses;

adenoids and adenoiditis - hypertrophy and inflammation of the nasopharyngeal tonsil.

Cough with ENT pathology is not very strong, worsens at night and in the morning.

Whooping Cough In children, whooping cough can cause severe coughing.. Predominantly unvaccinated children get sick. Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that causes bouts of severe coughing.. Seizures occur 10-20 times a day, may result in vomiting.

This is a dangerous disease, as a complication of the disease, respiratory failure, convulsions, pneumonia and even death can develop.. If whooping cough is suspected, parents should definitely show the child to the doctor.

Foreign body In children, a dry, sudden cough may be caused by a foreign body in the airways.. Often this occurs in young children while playing with small parts, while eating. The peculiarity of this pathology is the sudden onset. In addition to coughing, the child is worried about breathing problems. Help must be urgent..

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