The youngest children are most often affected by colds. And sometimes a cold or flu is accompanied by a cough. If at the beginning of the disease there is a dry cough, then closer to the end of the disease you can observe the so-called wet cough, which the doctors call productive. This is due to the fact that the spitting out of the sputum in children indicates recovery, as the mucus that is on the bronchi moves out together with the cough.
Is it always necessary to treat a wet cough in a child?
It should be distinguished wet cough as a symptom of the underlying disease or cough everyday, which can normally be a child up to 15 times a day. This is due to the fact that the child has yet low growth and below is a large accumulation of dust and other microparticles that can enter the larynx at the time of inspiration. Cough in this case is a way to get rid of accumulated dust. Most often coughing infants, in which the mucosa is less perfect and more susceptible to external influences: milk flowed wrong, tears or snot flow down to the mouth area. When teething, the baby has a large amount of saliva, which can also cause frequent coughing. In view of the difficulty in diagnosing the presence of a pathological cough from a physiological one, it is necessary to consult a physician before curing a cough that may not be a symptom of the disease.
Strong lingering wet cough in a child
There are a number of symptoms that need to be addressed if the child coughs:
- The cough appeared suddenly and does not stop for a long time;
- dyspnea;
- increase in body temperature above 38 degrees;
- deterioration of appetite or even refusal to eat;
- presence of wheezing with an admixture of blood or without it;
- sputum green;
- cough arose as a result of a long catarrhal disease (more than three weeks);
- cough, which lasts for months and does not pass despite the course of treatment.
Only in the presence of these symptoms it is necessary to consult a doctor and treat first of all not the cough itself, but its original cause is a disease that caused a wet cough. If the baby is active, eats well and does not feel uncomfortable during the day, then the cough in this case does not require medical assistance.
What if the sputum is poor in the baby?
At children of younger preschool and school age the sputum by the consistence viscous enough that complicates its or her departure. To facilitate the process of expectoration and thinning sputum in children use special expectorant and mucolytic funds, since the accumulated mucus in the bronchi is an additional source of development of pathogenic bacteria, which can exacerbate the process of treatment. Expectorants are divided into two types:
- vegetable origin (Dr. Mom, Alteyny syrup, bronchicum, bronchocine, glyceram, pectusin, solutane, thermopsis, terpinhydrate, tussin);
- synthetic origin (ATSTS, mukobene, mukonist, fluviert, bisolvon, solvyn, flegamin, lazolvan, medovent, ferveks from cough, pulmozim).
The use of drugs of the first group can often have less therapeutic effect and cause allergic reactions in the child. Therefore, pediatricians often prescribe synthetic drugs.
The most effective are steam inhalations. However, they should be used very carefully to treat very young children (up to one year). Once the child has learned how to successfully expectorate mucus, inhalation should be discontinued.
To treat wet cough in infants, you can use a back and chest massage by rubbing the area. In this case, it is necessary to control the degree of pressure during the massage, so as not to harm the child with excessive pressure.
How to cure a child a wet cough with folk remedies?
Children older than six months can give herbal tea or infusion three times a day, not more than one teaspoon. However, it should be remembered that treatment, even folk remedies, must be controlled by a doctor. There are a number of recipes that can successfully remove sputum from the child's bronchi:
- drink from milk and birch juice with the addition of flour or starch;
- juice of onion with honey;
- at night you can offer the child to drink hot water with the addition of a few drops of iodine tincture;
- after awakening to ease the expectoration will help decoction of garlic, sugar syrup and starch;
- infusion of radish with honey.
In the case of properly selected treatment over time, the baby more effectively coughs up and a wet cough passes. If no visible improvement is observed, then it is necessary to visit a pulmonary physician and hand over additional blood tests, carry out radiography and bronchoscopy in order to avoid complications after a catarrhal disease.